By Ruma Paul and Tim Hepher<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DHAKA\/PARIS (Reuters) – State-owned carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines has decided to purchase 10 planes from Airbus, in a shift from its Boeing-dominated fleet, the South Asian country’s junior minister for civil aviation told Reuters on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As per our requirement, the decision has been taken to purchase 10 aircraft in phases. The technical committee is assessing now,” Mahbub Ali said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ali’s comments came after sources said the airline was close to a deal to buy 10 Airbus A350 widebody planes, marking its first order with the French planemaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not clear whether the deal would be finalised in time for the Paris Airshow, which opens on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Airbus declined to comment. Biman did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Every country has both Airbus and Boeing (NYSE:BA) in their fleet. We didn’t have an Airbus in our fleet,” Ali said, as the airline looks to break its reliance on the U.S. planemaker that typically dominates widebody orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 51-year-old airline has a fleet of more than 20 mostly Boeing planes, over half of which are widebodies, and some Dash-8 turboprops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biman Bangladesh’s demand for more widebody aircraft comes as travel is seeing a strong post-pandemic rebound. The carrier flies non-stop to 20 destinations worldwide including Britain, Malaysia, Thailand and Canada.<\/p>\n