- I can't believe it.
I'm flying Biman Bangladesh today.
(peaceful flute music)
Have a look at Biman's economy class.
Recently, Pakistan's closed their airspace.
Me and Biman go back a long way.
Do you like Biman Bangladesh Airlines?
Been serving chicken curry
for more than 30 years.
There's no alcohol
served on Biman Airlines.
Tastes awesome, full of flavour.
I found this mop here.
(light ethnic music)
Biman use Terminal 4 at Heathrow.
Check-in is
surprisingly well managed.
Biman executive class passengers
are invited to use the
Plaza Premium Lounge.
Not bad.
The lounge has everything
a lounge should have.
Now, sit back, relax,
and join me for a fun
and colourful journey
to Bangladesh together.
(light ethnic music)
The flight has a small delay here.
How many passengers do we have
today on the Biman flight?
- Today we have 24
people in business class
and 360 in economy class.
- So we have 384 passengers.
- Yes.
- We have two gates for boarding.
Behind me, 5A for business class,
and over there, 5B for economy class.
(speaking foreign language).
- [Crew] Welcome to Biman.
(light ethnic music)
- Have a look at
Biman's economy class.
It's actually all three, three, and three
on the Triple Seven.
Biman has more room than
lots of leading airlines in the world,
which cram in the extra seats.
(light ethnic music)
- Thank you, sir.
(plane engine white noise)
(foreign language)
(foreign language)
- My name is Captain Turp.
With me is Captain Saag
and First Officer Meesu.
We will take you from London
Heathrow to Sylhet Osmani.
It'll take about 10 hours and 10 minutes
and the altitude will be 31,000...
- [Man] 35,000
- 35,000.
- Well Captain, recently
Pakistan's closed the airspace.
I think it affects our flight.
So, we have to do a bit
of a detour, a diversion.
How much time has been added
to our flight today?
- Today we will be adding one hour extra
on to the original flight.
- We have to go down the Middle East
and south of Pakistan
and go across Bombay.
- Yes.
- And then across the Indian continent.
- Yes, we used to fly over Kabul.
This time we fly over the Indian Ocean.
(light ethnic music)
(passengers and crew talking)
- These are welcome snacks.
As you're welcomed, they're
serving nuts and an appetiser.
(airline loudspeaker announcement)
- Would you like mango,
orange, apple or tomato?
- [Sam] I'll have a mango juice please.
- [Male Flight Attendant]
Peanuts and canapes.
- Hello, sir, any newspaper
you would like to have?
- [Sam] English newspaper?
- [Male Flight Attendant]
Yes, we have Observer,
The Daily Star.
- [Sam] Oh, man. Okay.
- [Male Flight Attendant]
We have New Age as well.
- [Sam] Okay, very good.
- [Male Flight Attendant]
Is there any preference?
- [Sam] That's fine, thank you.
- We have British newspaper as well.
- [Sam] Oh, wow.
-[Male Flight Attendant] The Daily Mail...
- ...And The Sunday Times.
- [Sam] Thank you.
(light ethnic music)
(engine hum)
- I can't believe I'm flying
Biman Bangladesh Airlines
on my way to Bangladesh.
Me and Biman go back a long way.
In 2006, I took my first flight
on Biman on their DC-10
and their A310.
And for many, many years
I flew on the Biman DC-10
until she retired in 2013.
Now Biman has the Boeing 777-300 and
also the Boeing 787 Dreamliner,
and a fleet of 737-800 and Dash-8s.
So I'm looking forward to
seeing how the new Biman fares.
- I just met Ajay on the
flight here on his way.
You're going to Sylhet.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, may I ask you, like,
do you like Biman Bangladesh Airlines?
Are you proud of Biman
Bangladesh Airlines?
Have they gotten better?
- It's... I think it's stayed the same
to be honest with you.
And I've flown economy many times.
This is the first time
I'm flying business.
So far it's been quite good.
The economy's been painful for me.
For me the experience has improved,
and also they've got the
Dreamliner, 787 Dreamliner.
- That's right. Dreamliner, yes.
- And I hope next time
I can get on one of the
Dreamliners in business class
because it's completely changed.
The only airline that goes
directly from London
Heathrow to Sylhet is Biman.
- That's right.
- So, I'm kind of stuck;
I don't have a choice.
- You don't have a choice.
- Exactly.
- Right.
Why are so many people
from Sylhet in London?
- Oh, well that goes back
to years and years ago
when our fathers and
forefathers immimgrated to--
- Right.
- To London.
- So there's more people
from the Sylhet region
who migrated to the UK.
- Hundred percent.
- That's why this flight makes one stop.
It stops in Sylhet first.
Then it goes to Dhaka.
- Yeah.
(light ethnic music)
- Now I'm actually in the economy class.
I met Nabila here.
Nabila, I want to hear from
your Biman experience onboard.
- I would say that it was real good.
And the service is very good.
Just only one bad
experience on 24 February
when I came back from Bangladesh to London
it was three hours late.
- Three hours late.
Whoa, smells very nice.
Is it the the famous Biman
chicken curry time?
- Chicken curry and lamb curry.
- [Crew Member] Chicken
curry and lamb curry.
- [Sam] Chicken curry, lamb curry.
Biman has been serving chicken
curry for more than 30 years.
- The passengers like it very much.
- I think it's the favourite
meal for everybody.
- [Crew Member] Chicken
curry, yellow rice,
and vegetable curry.
- This is boiled rice, lamb
curry, and vegetable curry.
- [Sam] Oh, this is lamb curry?
- [Crew Member] Yeah.
- [Sam] With potato?
- [Crew Member] This is...
- [Sam] Cauliflower.
- [Crew Member] Cauliflower.
- How many paper cups do
you think you have here?
- 140.
- 140 paper cups, ready to
go out to the passengers.
Ashraf just came up to me earlier,
and Ashraf, you're from Dover?
- That's right, Dover. I
used to... I'm from Dover,
I live in Stevenage at the moment.
- I like your Dover accent.
(both laugh)
Are you going to Sylhet?
- I'm going to Sylhet.
I'll be staying there for about
just over a couple of weeks.
A great pleasure to meet you, Sam.
You've always been my
favourite YouTube vlogger.
- Am I? Really?
- Yeah, it's brilliant.
- Yes!
- It was a pleasant surprise.
It's been absolutely
fantastic to see you on board.
So it's a dream come true
for any aviation geeks.
You love aviation; I love aviation.
So, it's a dream come true.
Brilliant.
(jazzy trip hop music)
- There's no alcohol
served on Biman Airlines.
You only get soft drinks.
(jazzy trip hop music)
I'll have one crusty
and one garlic bread.
(jazzy trip hop music)
- [Flight Attendant] Chicken?
- [Sam] Chicken.
(jazzy trip hop music)
- [Flight Attendant] Would you like
to try mango pickle?
From Bangladesh? Special...
- [Sam] Mango... mango pickle.
- [Flight Attendant] Mango pickle, yes.
- [Sam] Okay, yes, please.
That's okay, thank you.
(silverware clinks)
(lips smack)
Tastes awesome; full of flavour.
(jazzy trip hop music)
In the toilet of Biman Airlines,
I found this mop here.
Well, kudos to the crew.
They keep the toilet so clean.
Very, very creative, I must say,
in the bathroom here on Biman.
The IFE is quite good.
Lots of Bengali film choices for sure
to keep everyone happy.
No Wi-Fi on the 777, though.
The seats function well.
It is very comfy in the reclined position.
When in full reclined
mode, it is almost flat,
but still at an angle, though.
And now it's time to sleep,
and here's a very interesting green
blanket from Biman Bangladesh.
Well, it's not exactly a fully flat bed.
It's the same as the Thai Airways 747.
It's a sliding flat.
Alright, good night.
See you later.
(trip hop music fades)
(peaceful, uplifting piano music)
(violin joins peaceful,
uplifting piano music)
- Good morning.
5:00 a.m. London time.
Just woke up after three hours sleep.
Biman doesn't have any amenity kit.
I brought my own eye shade.
In fact, I always have this
eye shade when I travel,
in case an airline doesn't have it.
Also, this pillow is not very comfortable.
This pillow is a very tiny, tiny pillow,
and luckily I have a spare one,
and I put a second one here.
The blanket is also an economy
class grade blanket, as well.
You know, it's adequate, but not luxury.
No major issues, but things can improve.
(gentle, restful music)
Well, this has been a much
longer flight than I expected
due to the Pakistan airspace closure.
So, we're coming to the
end, coming to Sylhet now.
(gentle, restful music)
It was a cloudy and hazy day at Sylhet,
and the visibility was poor pretty much everywhere that we flew over in Bangladesh.
(engine hums)
(pilots speaking with air traffic control)
- [Computerised Voice] 500
400
Approaching minimums.
300
Minimums.
200
100
50... 40... 30... 20... 10
(landing noises)
(loud beeping)
(pilots speaking)
(upbeat music)
(speaking foreign language)
- Catch you later, Sam.
- [Sam] Take care; yeah, see ya.
- Take care, my friend.
- [Sam] Have a good trip home.
- All the best.
- [Sam] Alright, take care.
- Enjoy your stay in Bangladesh.
- [Sam] Thank you.
How's your flight?
- Yeah, no, it was okay, actually.
I actually thought it
would be a bit better,
but it was still very pleasant.
I slept several hours,
so I'm quite rested.
I almost missed breakfast, actually.
And the service was very good.
It was very pleasant.
- [Sam] Okay, welcome home.
- Thank you so much, then.
- [Sam] Welcome.
Welcome home.
- Thank you.
(lively flute music)
(foreign language)
- Yeah, I saw you holding
the old lady's hand
walking out the aeroplane.
That's very sweet of you.
- Yeah, that's because, you know,
our people are basically,
our passengers are old,
and they cannot walk.
They came in wheelchair.
- Yeah, they came in wheelchair.
- Yeah, so we have to escort them,
as they cannot walk properly.
- Good job, good job taking
care of your people here.
- Thank you.
- Very good.
I just want to know, your sari
is beautiful, so colourful.
How many different colours do your saris come in?
- We have seven colours.
- Seven different colours?
- Seven different colours.
- So these are like one,
you're already wearing
three different colours.
- Three.
- What are the other colours like?
- Other colour designs were red and green,
another one is blue...
- Orange.
- ... and orange.
Green and orange.
- Oh, yeah, I remember the orange one.
Yeah, long time, orange, yeah.
Nice, it looks really nice.
Such a beautiful tradition.
(bright flute music)
- (propellers whir)
How many people are joining
us on the next flight to Dhaka?
- 300... 320.
- 300 passengers join on this
flight from Sylhet to Dhaka?
- Yes, Sylhet-Dhaka
- I thought this was going
to be an easy flight.
320 people joining again.
The next section is 25 minutes to Dhaka.
I remember, I used to fly on the DC10.
They gave you one box of orange
juice, one carton of orange juice.
Now they give one bottle
of water and a poundcake,
a vanilla cake, so the next 25 minutes.
But we're going to expect
another full load of passengers.
(foreign language)
- Hello.
(foreign language)
(engine whirs)
(light upbeat percussion music)
So after 15 hours from the
original departure time,
we're finally coming to land in Dhaka.
It was a long journey,
delayed by about two hours
due to the Pakistan airspace closure.
So, how was my flight on Biman Bangladesh?
I guess that's what you want to know.
I think, like, we shouldn't expect Biman
to be a five star airline
delivering flawless service.
Biman do have its shortcomings for sure.
There are lots of areas in which they can improve.
There are a lots of areas in which they
can do a little quick fix,
to have a quick win.
What I like about Biman is
the hospitality on board.
I think they treat me really well,
and, in fact, they treat
most of the passengers
with good respect, especially the elderly.
I like them holding their arms,
letting them on and off the plane.
It is well heartfelt, that hospitality.
And I also want to say thank
you so much to the crew
who went out of their
way to help me to film.
They were very enthusiastic
towards my filming
on this flight.
And I look forward to my Biman
787 flight in a few days.
(light upbeat percussion music)
(engine hums)
(wheels grind against pavement on landing)
(landing noises)
(light upbeat percussion music)
- Bye!
- [Sam] Bye, thank you!
Restricted area.
Airline catering Costco, or
airline catering Sam's Club.
Oh, my god.
This is too heavy.
Smells nice - a bakery smell here.
(sniffing)
Then my whole mouth would set on fire.
This is chicken curry?
- [Man] Chicken curry.
- [Sam] How many tonnes of
chicken curry you make every day?
The biggest curry making factory.
- Yeah, this colour, uh, nice?
- [Sam] Oh, very nice.
(cooking sizzles)
Give a little bit more, just be generous.
Yeah, it's a pleasure; thank you so much.
(applause)
(crowd chatter)
Goes to Cox's Bazar, Fokker 28.
- [Man] Sam Chui!
- Hip hip hurray!
- [Man] Sam Chui!
- Hip hip hurray!
- Welcome aboard the
Biman 787 Dreamliner.
(hopeful, uplifting music)
- It's really awesome.
- I cannot actually express my emotion.
- I never thought my first flight
would be so special with Sam Chui.
- Oh... Look at that. Isn't that nice?
Just like an iPhone, you can slide around.
Everything's fresh and new here.
Much improved on the Boeing...
- Welcome on board.
- [Sam] Do you like this aeroplane?
- Yeah, it's great.
(engine hums)
- Check off thrust.
(air traffic control responds)
- [Computerised Voice] 500
50... 40...
- Bye!
(uplifting guitar music)
(whoosh)
(whoosh)
(ping)
(pop)
