Bangladesh extends flight suspension till May 7

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has extended the flight suspension in both domestic and international routes, for the fourth time, till May 7 amid a countrywide lockdown after the coronavirus outbreak since March.

The restriction of flight operations on international routes will be applicable for 16 countries, according to CAAB.

The countries are Bahrain, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, UAE and the UK.

However, cargo transportation and special flight operations will remain normal.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate three more special flights to bring back Bangladeshis stranded in India due to a lockdown in the country.

The flights will be from three cities in India to Dhaka – the first flight will be on May 1 from Kolkata, the second will be on May 2 from Delhi, and the third flight will be on May 3 from Mumbai, according to Biman.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the initiative to operate the Biman charter flights. The cost of the flight per person will be Tk10,200 from Kolkata, Tk25,000 from Delhi and Tk31,000 from Mumbai.

Biman will carry 74 passengers from Kolkata, and 162 passengers from Delhi and Mumbai each.

Earlier on April 24, Biman operated a special flight from Delhi carrying 162 passengers.

Local private airline US-Bangla operated five special flights from April 20-25 to bring back Bangladeshis from Chennai.