After a splendid day of spotting, we headed back to the terminal the second time that day. This time, to check-in for our evening flight BG027 to Abu Dhabi via Chittagong
Terminal interior view
Biman Check-in area, made up of a few counters only.
We received the original Biman Boarding pass!
Banners advertising the new B777-300/ER flagship.
After immigration, we head for the lounge for some comfort.
Upstairs, lounge level.
We went pass the Maslin Lounge, operated by Biman.
Our Priority pass entitle us to use the Balaka VIP Lounge, operated by Sheraton Hotel.
Food Corner
Scenes at the lounge
Dhaka airside area
S2-ACR “A New Era”
Boarding was via aerobridge in Dhaka
Int’l passengers were boarded first, before domestic passengers arrived to join.
It turned out this is another quite full flight, lot of passengers are flying domestic sector from Dhaka to Chittagong.
Juices were handed out prior to departure. Our flight pushed back 30 mins late, with a flying time of only 28 minutes. We made up the time in Chittagong.
Passengers transit to Abu Dhabi were asked to remain onboard. The cabin became quite empty.
We have a total of 277 pax to Abu Dhabi tonight. Most of them are joined from Chittagong.
The dinner service began after take-off. I was given both choices plus the retro RC Cola. Dinner choices were Chicken curry or Fish and Chips.
After the dinner, the fun began! I started to take photo with fellow passengers who keep trying to chat with me. They all asked the same type of question, “Where are you from?”
Since it wasn’t a full flight, we took the whole row 1 to convert it to an open Suite. It is the most comfortable way to travel onboard Biman.
Roni also onboard the Biman Bangladesh Suite 1E
Again, our group was invited to visit the cockpit during cruise. This time we were allowed to stay “as long as we would like”. The captain was very accommodating, showing us his family photo on the phone.
We initially flew past Calcutta, then passing inland of India and then cross the Arabian Sea/Gulf of Oman making inland over Oman and continue westward towards Abu Dhabi.
Our routing tonight is displayed on Derek’s iPad.
Some night time cockpit photos.
I have secured 2 observer seats for landing in Abu Dhabi. I invited Roni for his first time in the cockpit landing to his birth place, Abu Dhabi.
Over Al Falah, suburbs of Abu Dhabi with the lit up skyline at midnight.
100% concentration from the pilots putting down the wheels of S2-ACR on Rwy31L of Abu Dhabi. With the usual very smooth high pitch landing, it brought us to the end of our weekend trip from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Dhaka, Bangladesh. We made it 10 minute early than schedule. Another perfect record for Biman!
With several months of planning and waiting, we achieved everything in this trip include cockpit access, jumpseat landing, friendship making, fantastic spotting and experienced the culture. I have nothing but sweet memories of flying Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Biman is every aviation enthusiasts’ dream. They are extremely friendly towards aviation geeks, with very accommodating and hospitable crew. None of my flights were significantly delayed. There aren’t many other countries to offer as much opportunity on vintage aircraft these days like Bangladesh. About the Bangladeshi people, I really like them. They are among my favorite. All the people I have met there are very softly spoken, genuine, relaxed and easy going. It is the spirit of the people of Bangladesh making our trip a very successful one. Once again, Bangladesh is truly the land where DC-10 and Fk-28 still roams free! We will be back for more! Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow trip companions to make the trip extra enjoyable. Thank you for reading this group trip report.
The old school TV in the out dated lounge is charming. What a fantastic trip
Omg this is incredible! From that gloriously dated lounge to the DC-10 itself, it’s like time travel back to the ‘70’s.