Oman returnees allege harassment at Dhaka airport over cancelled connecting flight: What we know

Two Oman returnee passengers of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines have alleged harassment at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday evening as passengers did not get their connecting flights on time.

The passengers, Osman and Rubel, came to Dhaka on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Muscat this morning. They had a connecting flight with Biman from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar, but it was cancelled. 

Biman Station Manager Mizanur Rahman said the agency did not inform the passengers about the delay or flight unavailability. 

"However, as we are responsible for them, we offered them to stay at a hotel at our cost and catch the available flight on Wednesday. But they didn't comply with us. For this reason, they created a scene at the airport," he said.

Dhaka airport Service Officer Anisur Rahman, who was present in the scene, told The Business Standard that the way these passengers were handled by Biman was not professional. 

"They assured the passengers of arranging a flight but did not do it, which led to this unexpected situation. They should have known that during this hectic Eid time, arranging such a flight would be difficult. If they had told the passengers the real scenario, they would have been able to manage their travels."

Group Captain Ragib Samad, executive director at Dhaka Airport, told TBS that the passengers were offered connecting flights on another airline. 

"At first, they did not agree. Later, they agreed to go to Cox's Bazar on a US Bangla flight at 5:30 pm…We will investigate whether any misbehaviour has occurred with the respected passengers. Accordingly, action will be taken against those responsible."

According to our correspondent, Biman asked the passengers to stay the night and leave the next morning. Then the passengers started crying and sat at the luggage belt. They refused  to leave when security officers went to escort them. 

For some time, issuing boarding passes was stopped.

While such a scene was going on at the Biman boarding area of the Dhaka airport, other passengers were trying to shoot videos. Some of the civil aviation officers reportedly misbehaved and harassed some passengers to make them delete videos from their mobile phones.

A Sylhet-bound passenger complained that one such officer even threatened them saying that publishing such videos would tarnish the image of the country and the airport and that capturing videos at the airport was prohibited.