DALLAS - US-Bangla Airlines (BS) will add its first wide-bodied aircraft to its fleet. The Bangladeshi carrier has revealed it will lease a pair of Airbus A330-300s from Irish lessor Avolon. Deliveries are scheduled for September this year.

The airline plans to use the new airframes to open new routes to the Middle East, including Bahrain, Dammam, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait City, and Riyadh.

The airframes are being readied for delivery at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), China. Registered 9H-POP (MSN 1445) was previously used by Hi Fly Malta (3L). The second airframe, RP-C3344 (MSN 1527), was flown by Cebu Pacific (5J).

BS commenced operations in 2014 and currently operates a fleet of nine ATR72-600s and eight Boeing 737-800s. It also uses a pair of De Havilland Canada DHC-8Q400s which are being replaced by ATR turboprops. It is currently the country’s largest privately owned carrier.

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Paul Geaney, President and Chief Commercial Officer, Avolon, said, “We welcome this lease agreement with US-Bangla for two of our Airbus A330s. We are delighted to add a new customer to the A330 programme, offering widebody capability to US-Bangla’s fleet which will help support its route expansion in the Middle East. We look forward to building further on this partnership in the future.”

Meanwhile, Mohammed Abdullah Al Mamun, Managing Director of BS, added, “US-Bangla Airlines has ambitious growth plans for its international operations, and we appreciate the support of a leading lessor like Avolon. This is our first widebody aircraft and represents our aspirations to position US-Bangla Airlines as an airline of choice for travel to medium-haul routes. We look forward to deploying our new A330s into service providing premium flight experience at the most reasonable costs to our esteemed passengers travelling for Hajj, Umrah and business.”

https://airwaysmag.com/avolon-lease-20-a330-900-pas/

Featured Image: Avolon Airbus A330-300. Image: Avolon.