Bangladesh approves state airline privatisation

DHAKA, May 19 (Reuters) Bangladesh's interim government on Saturday said it approved plans to privatise the state airline, Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

''The advisers council led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the interim government has approved the privatisation plans today,'' Fahim Munaim, a top spokesman of the government told a news briefing.

The authorities concerned will now take steps to implement the plans phase by phase, Munaim said without giving details.

Earlier last month a top Biman official said the airline would be turned into a public limited company by June to rescue the loss-making national carrier.

He said an operator would be appointed to run the airline, but the government will retain 100 percent stake for the time being.

But he did not say when shares will be floated in the country's two stock exchanges in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Biman Managing Director M A Momen said he had sought 3.0 billion taka ( million) from the government to pay off the to-be-retrenched staff.

Another official said half of Biman's some 7,000 staff would lose their jobs in the privatisation process.

Biman has projected a 6.91 billion taka (0.14 million) loss for the 2006-07 fiscal year to next June, hit by soaring fuel prices and falling passenger numbers.

It owes 12 billion taka (3.91 million) to fuel supplier state owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the only fuel supplier to local airlines.

Biman also has been suffering from a shortage of aircraft and forced to stop flights to New York, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Brussels, Yangon and Mumbai last year.

It now flies to 19 international destinations with a fleet of 13 aircraft, although four of these are grounded.

REUTERS SBA VV2037