Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is not one of the airlines you see at every European airport. That is exactly what makes it appealing for spotters: the fleet is small, the Europe routes are manageable, and with the white stork in a red circle it carries one of the most striking logos in the sky over London. This page shows you where to find Biman, which aircraft the airline flies and how to recognize it reliably.

Biman at a glance

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is Bangladesh’s state-owned flag carrier. The name “Biman” simply means “aircraft” in Bengali. The airline was founded on January 4, 1972, just a few weeks after the end of the war of independence. On February 4, 1972, the first domestic flight took off – with a single Douglas DC-3 that came from India, from Dhaka to Chittagong, Jessore and Sylhet.

The start was rocky: just a few days later this DC-3 was lost on a test flight near Dhaka. Nevertheless, Biman began international service on March 4, 1972, and right away with a long-haul route: a weekly flight to London, operated with a Boeing 707 chartered from British Caledonian. London is thus the airline’s oldest international connection – and still one of the most important today.

Since 2007, Biman has been a joint-stock company owned by the state. The headquarters is called Balaka Bhaban and is located in Kurmitola, right at Dhaka Airport. The hub is Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (DAC), with Chittagong and Sylhet as secondary bases. Biman does not belong to an alliance. Instead the airline relies on individual partnerships, such as a codeshare with Gulf Air and interline agreements with carriers such as Emirates or Pakistan International Airlines.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code BG: appears in the flight number, on the departure board and on the ticket.
• ICAO code BBC: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign BANGLADESH: this is how the crew checks in on the radio.

The ICAO code BBC likes to raise a smile because it sounds like the British broadcaster. It has nothing to do with the broadcaster. For you it is practical: on the tracker you find Biman flights quickly if you filter for BBC. How to use ADS-B data sensibly is explained in the guide to flight tracking for spotters.

The fleet: Dreamliners, Triple Sevens and turboprops

Biman flies a small, almost pure Boeing fleet, supplemented by turboprops for domestic routes. According to the fleet overview for spring 2026, the inventory looks like this:

Type	Number	Use	Spotter note
Boeing 777-300ER	4	Long-haul, e.g. London	In the fleet since 2011, the airline’s largest type
Boeing 787-8	4	Long-haul and medium-haul	Delivered from 2018, with Bengali names
Boeing 787-9	2	Long-haul	Taken over in 2019, originally built for Hainan Airlines
Boeing 737-800	4	Regional and Gulf routes	Narrowbody for international short and medium routes
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400	5	Mostly domestic	Turboprop, hardly seen outside South Asia

The Boeing 777-300ER came to Biman with its first aircraft at the end of October 2011. With it the airline also introduced a new livery. The Boeing 787-8 followed from August 2018: the first aircraft was named “Akash Beena,” and the others were called “Hangsa Balaka” and “Raj Hangsha,” among others. In December 2019 two Boeing 787-9s joined, “Sonar Tori” and “Awchin Pakhi.” These aircraft were originally intended for Hainan Airlines, which had withdrawn its order.

On the regional and Gulf routes, Biman uses the Boeing 737-800. Domestically it is mainly the Dash 8-400 that flies – how to tell it from an ATR is shown in the guide Telling turboprops apart. If you lie in wait in Europe, you therefore see almost exclusively 777s and 787s – the turboprops and the 737s stay in Asia and the Gulf.

777-300ER or 787? How to tell them apart

Both types wear the same livery at Biman, and on approach to Heathrow they look similar at first glance. A few features reliably help you.

Between the 787-8 and 787-9 you tell the difference mainly by length: the -9 is around six meters longer and looks more stretched. On the tracker the types appear as B788 and B789. The article Telling the Boeing 777 and 787 apart explains it in detail. If the A350 joins later, the comparison A350 or Boeing 787? helps.

How to recognize Biman

The most important feature is the logo: a stylized white stork in a red circle. The stork is called “Bolaka” in Bengali and also gives the headquarters Balaka Bhaban its name. The logo was designed by the Bangladeshi painter Quamrul Hassan. Red and green take up the colors of the national flag.

The livery has changed several times over the decades. At first a dark blue stripe shaped the fuselage, and in the 1980s Biman switched to lines in dark green and red. A redesign from 2010 was dropped again after only about two months. Since 2011 the 777-300ERs, the 787s and all aircraft added later have worn a more modern livery.

Spotting Biman in Europe

In Europe Biman flies to London Heathrow, Manchester and Rome Fiumicino. Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Milan were also once part of the network, but those routes have long been discontinued. At German airports you therefore practically do not see Biman.

London Heathrow is the most important address. The connection has existed since 1972, and a large Bangladeshi community lives in the United Kingdom, whose families largely come from the Sylhet region. At London Heathrow Airport, Biman typically lands with a 777-300ER or 787. The spots around the airport are described in the guide Plane spotting at Heathrow; for landings from close up, Myrtle Avenue and Hatton Cross are suitable, for example.

Manchester was already a stopover on the then New York route in the 2000s and is part of the network again today. How to photograph best there is shown in the guide Plane spotting in Manchester; information on the airport can be found on the page on Manchester Airport.

Rome Fiumicino has been served by Biman again since 2024, after the route was discontinued in 2015. At Rome Fiumicino Airport, Biman is thus one of the less frequently seen long-haul visitors from South Asia; tips on the spots there are provided by the guide Plane spotting at Rome Fiumicino.

Because long-haul flights from Asia often arrive at fixed times of day, a look at the typical arrival windows is worthwhile. The article When long-haul flights land in Europe helps you plan. And if you want to gauge how special your sighting is, see the guide How rare is my sighting?.

The wider network: Gulf, Asia and Canada

Biman flies the bulk of its traffic not to Europe but to the Gulf and Asia. Destinations include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Medina. Many people from Bangladesh work there, and the schedule is correspondingly dense.

The Hajj flights to Jeddah play a special role: Biman has been the most important Bangladeshi airline for transporting pilgrims for decades. In the pilgrimage season the fleet is therefore especially heavily utilized.

Since July 2022, Biman has also flown to Toronto. The first flight started on July 27, 2022, initially with a technical fuel stop in Istanbul. The earlier connection to New York, by contrast, was discontinued in 2006.

Within Bangladesh and to neighboring countries, Biman competes with private companies, above all US-Bangla Airlines. In a South Asian comparison, it is also worth a look at Air India and SriLankan Airlines, which also fly widebody jets to London.

A piece of aviation history: DC-10 and A310

For many spotters, Biman is closely tied to a classic: the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. In 1983 the airline took over three DC-10-30s from Singapore Airlines for long-haul. Biman held on to the three-engine jet for a long time – as the last airline with the DC-10 in scheduled passenger service. On February 20, 2014, the era in scheduled service ended with a farewell flight from Dhaka via Kuwait to Birmingham Airport; after that only a few charter flights in the United Kingdom followed.

From 1996, Biman also flew the Airbus A310-300: at first two brand-new aircraft, later used aircraft were added. In October 2016 the type was retired. If you own photos of these aircraft in Biman livery today, you have real rarities in your archive.

Outlook: new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus

In 2026 Biman set a major fleet expansion in motion. In May the airline agreed with Boeing on an order for Boeing 787-10s, further 787-9s and 737-8s (MAX 8), which was increased again in September. According to reports, deliveries only begin from 2031. In parallel, Biman has concluded agreements with Airbus on A350-900s and A321neos. To bridge the time until then, Biman wants to lease additional 787-9s.

For spotters that means: in the short term the fleet stays with 777s and 787s. Only in a few years could Biman aircraft with an Airbus look or the long 787-10 show up at Heathrow. Treat the exact numbers with caution – with such large orders, details often change until delivery.

Common mix-ups

• Taking BBC for the broadcaster – the ICAO code BBC belongs to Biman and has nothing to do with the British broadcaster.
• Confusing Biman with US-Bangla – both come from Dhaka, but US-Bangla is a private airline with its own livery.
• Not separating 787-8 and 787-9 – the -9 is noticeably longer; B788 or B789 on the tracker helps.
• Expecting Biman in Germany – there are no longer regular Biman flights to Germany, Frankfurt was discontinued long ago.
• Assuming ordered types are already in service – A350, A321neo and 787-10 are ordered, but not yet in the fleet.

Conclusion

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is a small but historic airline: founded in the year of independence, connected to London since 1972 and for a long time the last DC-10 operator in scheduled service. Today it flies a manageable fleet of 777-300ERs, 787s, 737-800s and Dash 8-400s. For spotters in Europe, Heathrow, Manchester and Fiumicino are the best addresses – and because the fleet is so small, it is easy to collect in full.