BANGLADESH is set to sign an agreement with Boeing for 11 more aircraft, deepening its aviation ties with Washington even as European governments press Dhaka to give Airbus a fair chance.
The deal is due to be signed in New York on Thursday (24), during prime minister Tarique Rahman's visit to the US for the UN General Assembly, officials at state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines said.
The new order comes on top of 14 aircraft agreed under a $3.7 billion deal with Boeing on April 30. That takes Biman's planned Boeing acquisitions to 25. The aircraft models, price, financing and delivery schedule have not been disclosed.
US ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T Christensen welcomed the decision. He called the Boeing jets the "world's best commercial planes" and described the deal as "another win-win for the US-Bangladesh relationship".
The announcement came a day after French ambassador Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet said Paris was watching Dhaka's Airbus negotiations "closely".
"I think this is a good test for the current government, and we have confidence in this government and in Biman," he told diplomatic reporters in Dhaka.
Séré-Charlet said he was not yet "concerned", as talks were still under way. "(But) I am insisting on a level playing field, and this is a message that we are also giving to the current government, because we believe this is essential," he said.
For Europe, he said, the value of a deal goes beyond its size. "Of course, 10 aircraft is not a major deal, but for us it is more than that. It is about Bangladesh being willing to engage in discussions to enter into a long-term partnership with Europeans in the field of civil aviation."
He pointed to trade as the reason Europe should matter to Dhaka. Some 48 per cent of Bangladesh's garment exports go to Europe, compared with 17 per cent to the US, and the share is higher once the UK is included.
Biman officials said Bangladesh had not ruled out buying Airbus aircraft and that negotiations with the European manufacturer were continuing.
The Boeing agreement is expected to be signed on Thursday. The outcome of the Airbus talks will show whether Dhaka can balance its growing ties with Washington against its biggest export market.
