Int’l flight procedure on limited-scale resumed
Bangladesh in Tuesday resumed international airline flight operation on limited level after nearly 90 days of flight suspension for containing outbreak of COVOD-19 pandemic.
A Qatar Airways’ commercial flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal AIRPORT TERMINAL (HSIA) at 1:58 am from Doha with 33 transit passengers and flew back to Doha with 274 transit travelers within international trip operation’s resumption from Bangladesh, Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) chairman Oxygen Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman told BSS.
On June 11, the federal government decided to resume Biman Bangladesh Airlines trip on Dhaka-London-Dhaka path and had offered permission to Qatar Airways to operate three weekly air travel on Dhoa-Dhaka-Doha route in state of carrying only transit travellers from today.
The CAAB chairman said they took all preparations to use the international flight according to a couple of health guideline prepared following instruction of International Civil Aviation Business (ICAO).
Rahman said, he held a good coordination meeting on Mon with station managers and floor handlers of airlines to remind them that they must follow CAAB’s wellness guideline of ensuring hygiene and sociable distancing even while operating the international flights.
“We deployed additional manpower at the airport for marshalling passengers in order that they could maintain public distancing and follow health hygiene properly and we've in a position to successfully operate the primary trip after resumption with this health guideline,” he said.
The CAAB installed a disinfectant tunnel at the boarding gate to sanitize the arrival passengers before engaging in the airport terminal. “We have planned to install six even more such disinfectant tunnels at different gates of the airport terminal like the VIP terminal slowly but surely,” Rahman added.
The CAAB chairman said all of the returnee passengers would have to be delivered to a 14-evening institutional quarantine if indeed they fail to show COVID-19 negative certificate or even to pass the medical examination at the airport on the arrival here.
“And, 14-day residence quarantine is manufactured mandatory for all returnee travellers after their arrival here,” he added.
Qatar Airways will operate three weekly flights on Doha-Dhaka-Doha way on every Tuesday, Wednesday and Fri.
Even so, Biman Bangladesh Airlines possesses decided to operate Dhaka-London-Dhaka air travel from June 21. “In the beginning, we will operate a every week trip to London on every Sunday,” explained Biman’s spokesperson Tahera Khondoker.
Previously, Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Mohibul Haque told BSS that Biman would operate daily London trip gradually as just like the previous regular schedule upon getting enough passengers.
The senior secretary said the federal government would like to reestablish air connectivity with the external world on limited scale while the country has almost been take off from the globe as currently flight procedure remains open with China only.
On May 28 the government expanded the ongoing suspension on professional scheduled foreign flights for seventh consecutive times till June 15 to and from Bahrain, Bhutan, Hongkong, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, and the united kingdom.
From June 1, Bangladesh resumed domestic flight businesses after more than 8 weeks on a restricted scale.
Meanwhile, different countries, including India, the united states, the united kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Bhutan, Myanmar and various European countries up to now operated several particular chartered flights amid the flight suspension to repatriate their citizens from here.
Bangladesh federal government also facilitated chartered flights to recreate its nationals from numerous countries, including India, the united states, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and the UAE.
