Anglojet wrote:There's all sorts of conflicting chat about this one. Some say it's going to Brunty, others that it's going back to Dhaka to be scrapped. Either way, the ferry flight to the USA seems to have gone out the window.
Seems to have been missed by most (and not picked up by the rumour mill). Over a month ago...
http://newagebd.com/detail.php?date=201 ... wcHnj9WGiB
"The world’s last operating DC-10-30 aircraft that Biman Bangladesh Airlines owns will now not end its days in a Seattle museum in the United States for shortage of space, officials said. Instead, the authorities have invited proposals to buy the last DC-10-30 aircraft any time after February 25 either from Dhaka or the United Kingdom or from any other place in an 'as it is, where it is' condition, according to the official document signed by Belayet Hossain, Biman’s general manager responsible for corporate planning."
Then the Brunty rumour, which some were believing!
Now, all indications are that the aircraft will return to Dhaka for scrapping (as with others in the fleet). This recent thread on airliners.net sums up the confusion...
"The DC-10 is said to be returning to Bangladesh after the BHX flights, and return to schedule with the airline. No retirement yet...."
"I can imagine that Ian Allan will be dealing with some disgruntled customers who might not be the "last to fly" after paying a premium fare."
"I contacted Ian Allan and had a reply in 14 minutes: I have only just been forwarded an email from one of our tour managers five minutes ago regarding this and, to be honest I am still in shock. We have emailed Biman directly to get clarification!"
"I wouldn't blame Ian Allan for this as they have possibly been mislead by Biman. It wouldn't be a first for them though, I purchased a ticket for the "last" passenger VC10 flight in 1981 only to find out that there was another flight the next day!"
"No retirement yet.... would mean we've been fooled by their "last to fly" marketing campaign. They've sold us a product that would not be the product they advertised.
"Yes we paid the £50 extra to supposedly be "Last to Fly" the DC-10 as passengers."
"Where can we email Biman? I only bought the flight to be "Last to Fly the DC-10". I have been on countless numbers of DC-10s in my flying life all airlines considered. Many many long haul hours on them. I wouldn't have booked it otherwise if I had known there would be other passenger flights following that - no matter where in the world they would continue doing their flights."
"We need to have the truth from BG on this. The page specifying that these would indeed be the last passenger flights has been scrubbed on the Biman website. How convenient."
But now finally the truth?...
"As no museum has so far expressed any interest to get the last DC-10 passenger flight for showcasing, our management is now thinking about other alternatives,” Debabrata Banik, Chief Engineer of the national flag carrier told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Khan Mosharaf Hosen, general manager of Biman’s public relations, said: "Biman management now plans to sale the engine and other equipments first and later on, the rest of the body will be sold out as scrap."