With Eid-ul-Fitr just days away, people are flocking from the concrete jungles to their homes via buses, trains and planes. The Eid holiday officially starts on April 10, but taking leave on April 8 and 9 would allow an eight-day break. As a result, many are now busy heading home to celebrate the festival with their loved ones.
Alongside buses and trains, the air routes also saw a rush of passengers on Friday. Flights departing from the domestic runways of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka are almost fully booked.
On Friday morning, several flights from the capital left for different destinations, such as Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Jashore and Saidpur.
Nurul Ahad, a private sector employee from Saidpur of Nilphamari, bought air tickets for convenience, as the airport is near his home, and to avoid the hassles of travelling by road.
About going by air, he said, “It took around 18 hours to reach Saidpur from Dhaka during the Eid rush last year and over 10 of those hours went by only to reach the Bangabandhu Bridge. Travelling for such a long time is stressful when you have children as they get ill.”
"As an employee at a private company, I don't get many leaves. So this time around, I decided to travel by air and save as much time as I can,” he said.
Echoing Nurul’s thoughts and reasoning, private university student Oroni said she booked her airline tickets well in advance. After landing at Cox's Bazar Airport, it will take Oroni about 40 minutes to reach her village home.
Meanwhile, airlines operating domestic flights have said that most of their tickets have been sold out for the days before Eid-ul-Fitr.
Government and private airlines have increased the number of flights to cater to the increased demand caused by the Eid holidays. Biman Bangladesh Airlines has announced the schedule of operating nine additional flights (18 inbound and outbound) on domestic routes from April 4 to 10.
Biman in a press release said that additional flights will run on the Saidpur, Rajshahi, Jashore and Barisal routes from April 4 to 10. Besides, passengers on the Sylhet and Chattogram routes can go on regular flights.
It said a 10 per cent discount on the original fare can be availed by using promo code BGDEAL24 when purchasing tickets from Biman's website and mobile apps on the occasion of Eid.
Sources at the national flag carrier have said that an extra flight and 24 pre-scheduled flights operated on all domestic routes on Friday.
In the private sector, NOVOAIR has not increased its flights for Eid. However, it has been reported that the airline is under pressure from the surge in passenger numbers. On Friday, NOVOAIR operated 15 flights on different routes.
NOVOAIR’s Head of Sales and Marketing Mesbahul Islam told The Business Post that although demand is higher than the regular times, NOVOAIR is not extending flights and that they are trying to utilise the available capacity.
Tickets are almost sold out on their three travel routes: Saidpur, Rajshahi and Jashore. Other routes are also under pressure due to the increasing demand. Mesbahul noted that all preparations have been made to ensure passengers’ hassle-free journey.
Air Astra Deputy Manager (Public Relations and Communications) Sakib Hasan Shovo told The Business Post that they would operate 15 flights on Friday — four each to Cox's Bazar, Chattogram and Saidpur, and three to Sylhet.
He said that Air Astra was facing passenger pressure on other routes as well.
