166 Bangladeshis return from India, 198 British nationals leave for UK
The UK citizens were stuck in the country due to the flight suspension amid the Covid-19 pandemic
A total of 166 stranded Bangladeshis have returned home from the south Indian city of Chennai, while 198 Britons have left Dhaka for the United Kingdom (UK) on a third chartered flight of British Airways.
The UK citizens were stuck in the country due to the flight suspension amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"A chartered aircraft of British Airways took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:47pm on Saturday for London carrying 198 British passengers," Director of the Airport Group Captain AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan told the media.
Around 440 stranded British nationals left Bangladesh on two special chartered flights of British Airways, arranged by the UK government in coordination with the British High Commission on April 21 and 23.
The British government has arranged another such chartered flight on April 26 to evacuate its citizens.
Earlier, on Saturday, a chartered flight of US-Bangla Airlines, one of the country's private carriers, brought 166 Bangladeshi nationals who had gotten stuck in South India, back – as the neighboring country has been on a nationwide lockdown since March 25 to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.
US-Bangla Airlines General Manager Kamrul Islam told media that their chartered flight, operated with a Boeing 737-800 ER aircraft, arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 2:48pm from Chennai, carrying 166 Bangladeshi citizens – including five children.
From April 20-25, nearly 1,000 nationals were brought back from India on six special flights – five from Chennai and one from New Delhi – while the passengers bore the cost of their tickets for the flights.
As per the government decision, all returnee Bangladeshis will be sent to 14-day institutional quarantine under the management of the Armed Forces Division (AFD), if they fail to show a medical certificate at the airport after their arrival.
On April 11, Bangladesh extended its ongoing ban on flight operations till April 30 to–and–from all European countries and the nations that restricted the entry of Bangladeshis to their territories, including India, as well as on all domestic routes over the novel coronavirus scare.
Currently, regular commercial flights are only being operated from Bangladesh to China.
