"The engineering department will be separated and given an independent project status. It will provide maintenance services to not only Biman fleet but also aircraft of foreign airlines," he said at a function marking the completion of D-check of a DC10-30 aircraft at the Biman's engineering hangar at Kurmitola.

Biman's engineering department has completed the transition check of the DC10-30 from Manufacturer Scheduled Maintenance Development (MSG-2) to MSG-3, making way for partial D-check at its own hangar.

Earlier, a D-check would cost Biman around $5 million, mostly done by KLM and Alitalia at their own maintenance facility.

Under the new arrangement, a part of D-check was done in Garuda Maintenance Facility, Indonesia, and the rest at Biman's hangar at a cost of $1.8 million.

The state minister said aviation engineering industry has huge potential and the Biman with its skilled engineers can also provide the services to foreign airliners.

Defending the purchase of F-28 planes, Nasiruddin said that the planes were procured at a competitive price and they are most modern in their category.

"I talked with engineers, pilots and experts and everybody said the planes are in best condition. The medium-sized aircraft are most suitable for domestic and regional routes," he said.

Bangladesh Biman recently procured two ageing F-28s from Indonesia at a cost of $2.91 million, which raised many questions. In January, the Biman sold two ATPs (Air Turbo Prop) for $2.25 million.

The state minister said the selling and buying prices were reasonable.

He said the Biman had no plan to sell the two ATPs but was forced to do so because of media criticism over safety standards on the aircraft.

Biman's Managing Director Akhtar Hossain Khan, Director (engineering) S Zilani Mahbubur Rahman and President of the Society of Aircraft Engineers of Bangladesh Fakhrul Alam Bhuiyan also spoke.