The government has reinstated Air Marshal (retd) Jamal Uddin Ahmed as the chairman of the board of directors of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, ending the speculation that a new chief might fill the post.

The speculation gained ground following the arrests of three top Biman officials and two others in connection with a gold smuggling case in November last year.

All other members of the previous board which was dissolved last month on completion of its one-year tenure have also been reinstated.

Following approval by the Prime Minister's Office, the civil aviation and tourism ministry on Monday issued an order naming the board of directors for the next one year.

The members of the present board are secretaries of the civil aviation and tourism and finance ministries; chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, principal secretary of the PMO, chief of the army engineering corps, a teacher of Dhaka University, advocate Mesbahuddin, SM Zakaria and deputy chief of staff of Bangladesh Air Force.

Jamal Uddin faced severe criticism even from the civil aviation minister after detectives nabbed Captain Abu Mohammad Aslam Shaheed, chief of planning and scheduling; Emdad Hossain, deputy general manager (flight services); Tozammel Hossain, manager (scheduling); and two others -- Mahmudul Haque Palash and Harunur Rashid.

Palash, a contractor, used to identify himself as the godson of Jamal Uddin and influenced other Biman officials to get his jobs done, detectives said earlier.

Jamal Uddin has been serving as the Biman chairman since 2009. Ever since, Biman has been in the red.

The national carrier in the last four fiscal years has incurred losses of Tk 1,264 crore although four newly purchased Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft have joined its fleet.