A chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines left Dhaka on Sunday to bring back Bangladeshi nationals who have been stuck in the United Kingdom amid flight suspension due to coronavirus pandemic.
The Biman’s special flight took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) for London at 12:09 pm today and is scheduled to fly back with Bangladeshi nationals tomorrow, HSIA director group captain Touhid-ul Ahsan told media.
The flight also carried 154 passengers, mostly British citizens, from here to London, he said.
Meanwhile, a press release issued by Bangladesh High Commission in the UK today said the Biman’s special chartered flight BG 4041 is scheduled to depart London for Dhaka tomorrow (Sunday) at 6:20 pm London local time.
More than 130 Bangladeshi students who were stranded in the United Kingdom since the suspension of international flights between Dhaka and London in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic are scheduled to return by this flight, said the release.
Earlier, at the request of Bangladesh High Commission in London, the government arranged the flight operated by the national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines and chartered by Bangladesh Air Force Welfare Trust (BAFWT), it added.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem would be seeing off the returning students at London Heathrow Airport terminal 2 tomorrow evening.
The flight is scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 09:30 am Dhaka time on Monday.
As per the government decision, all the returnee Bangladeshis would have to be sent to a 14-day institutional quarantine under the management of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) if they fail to show medical certificate at the airport on their arrival.
Bangladesh so far repatriated stranded Bangladeshis from India, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar while more chartered flights have also been planned to bring back Bangladesh nationals from the USA and Malaysia soon.
On May 5, Bangladesh extended the ongoing ban on flight operation for the fifth consecutive time until May 16 to and from all European countries and the nations including India that restricted the entry of Bangladeshis to their territories as well as on all domestic routes over the coronavirus scare.
