Airbus India and South Asia President and Managing Director Jürgen Westermeier and Biman Bangladesh Airlines Managing Director and CEO Kaizer Sohail Ahmed will sign the planned agreement for 10 Airbus aircraft on behalf of their respective sides in Dhaka on October 7, officials familiar with the development said.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir are scheduled to witness the signing ceremony, adding high-level government representation to what is set to become a major milestone in Biman's fleet expansion programme.

The agreement covers four Airbus A350-900 wide-body aircraft and six A321neo narrow-body jets.

The signing ceremony is scheduled to be held at a Radisson hotel in the capital on Wednesday evening.

The latest development provides further clarity over the formal structure of the ceremony as Bangladesh moves closer to introducing Airbus aircraft into Biman's future fleet alongside a major Boeing acquisition programme.

Westermeier, who heads Airbus operations in India and South Asia, will represent the European aircraft manufacturer, while Ahmed will sign for the national flag carrier. 

The presence of Millat and Humaiun Kobir is also expected to underscore the broader government importance attached to the acquisition, which forms part of Bangladesh's plan to substantially expand Biman's fleet over the coming decade.

Millat earlier confirmed that Bangladesh would acquire 10 Airbus aircraft and said the agreement would be signed in October.

“Yes, we are buying 10 Airbus aircraft. Inshallah, the agreement will be signed in October,” he recently told journalists at the Secretariat.

The minister has said deliveries of the Airbus aircraft could begin in 2033 and continue through 2036 or 2037.

The final commercial value of the Airbus package has not yet been officially disclosed.

The proposed acquisition includes four A350-900s, which are expected to support Biman's future long-haul operations, and six A321neos for regional and medium-haul markets.

The A350-900 would give Biman an additional long-range wide-body platform capable of serving intercontinental routes, while the A321neo could be deployed on high-demand regional services where wide-body capacity may not be required.

The planned Airbus acquisition would represent a significant shift in Biman's fleet strategy.

Although the flag carrier has operated Airbus aircraft in the past, its current jet fleet is predominantly Boeing-built. The introduction of the A350 and A321neo would therefore move Biman toward a mixed Boeing-Airbus fleet.

The Airbus agreement comes amid the largest planned fleet expansion in Biman's history.

The carrier earlier agreed to acquire 14 Boeing aircraft comprising eight 787-10 Dreamliners, two 787-9 Dreamliners and four 737-8 aircraft.

A further 11 Boeing aircraft — five 787-10s and six 737-8s — were subsequently added to the procurement programme, taking Biman's planned Boeing acquisition to 25 aircraft.

If the Airbus purchase proceeds as planned, Biman would have a total of 35 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft in its long-term acquisition pipeline.

That would include 19 wide-body and 16 narrow-body aircraft.

Biman is also considering aircraft leasing arrangements to meet shorter-term capacity requirements before the new-generation aircraft begin arriving.

The October 7 signing is therefore expected to become another major step in Biman's long-term fleet renewal and expansion strategy, while also formally bringing Airbus into a procurement programme that has so far been dominated by Boeing.