The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has now allowed domestic flights from Wednesday on a small scale considering the expatriate workers.
The CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman confirmed the decision to The Business Post after an emergency meeting of the national flag carrier on Tuesday.
He said, “From Wednesday, a limited number of domestic flights will be operated. The number of flights to and from Dhaka will be announced through a circular.”
The CAAB chairman said that the move has been taken mainly for the convenience of expatriate workers who travel to the capital from the periphery. However, general passengers can also come and go in case of emergency.
Earlier, the government first imposed various restrictions from 5 to 11 April to combat the second wave of coronavirus. Since then, domestic flights have been suspended like other inter-district transports. Later, the ban was extended for two more days till April 13 and finally up to April 28 to contain the super-spreaders.
Due to strict restrictions, all international passenger flights have been suspended since April 14 when a weeklong lockdown was imposed. However, medical, cargo and special flights are exempted from the ban.
Bangladesh authorities earlier allowed special flights to six countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and China – for carrying the Bangladeshi migrants.
A total of 14 domestic and foreign airlines, including the national flag carrier Biman, are getting the opportunity to transport passengers. Other carriers include US-Bangla Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Oman Air, Salam Air, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Fly Dubai, China Eastern and China Southern Airlines.
