Over last weekend (and today, 24 February) Biman Bangladesh has made a series of pleasure flights out of Birmingham Airport to celebrate the retirement of the world’s last DC-10 passenger aircraft in scheduled service. All eight flights have sold out and around 1,250 aviation enthusiasts will have been carried.
The airline is shortly to launch a Boeing 777 operation from Birmingham to both New York JFK and the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka – a long haul service made possible thanks to the airport’s runway extension.
The DC10 first flew in 1970 and 446 were built including 60 for the US Air Force where they also served as airborne tankers. It easily outsold its rival three-engined wide-bodied rival, the Lockheed Tristar. Perhaps the most famous DC10 airline was Laker Airways who operated the world’s first low cost long haul budget operation, Skytrain. The DC10 was followed by the MD11, a developed successor, of which 200 were built, some still in airline service.
Host for the flights was Kevin Steele, MD of the airline for the past year with a long history of senior experience including British Airways, Etihad and Arik. He is multi-lingual. www.biman-airlines.com