Biman to bring back stranded Bangladeshis from India

The Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate a special flight from Delhi on April 24 to bring back Bangladeshis stranded in India amid the shutdown over the Covid-19 pandemic.

The price of each ticket for economy class of the special flight will be Tk25,000 and Biman will carry 162 passengers on this flight.

Confirming the matter, Biman's Managing Director Md Mokabbir Hossain told the Business Standard that they are operating the special flight following instructions from the government.

Customers can buy tickets through Biman's mobile app or website. Tickets will be available from Tuesday to April 23 at 2pm, according to Biman.

Earlier on April 20, private carrier US-Bangla airlines started a special flight from Chennai. In the first flight, it brought 164 passengers and the ticket price was around Tk33,000.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had permitted US-Bangla to operate the special flight to bring back Bangladeshis from India, but passengers were outraged by the high price of the tickets. In this situation, the ministry has asked Biman to operate only one special flight.

US-Bangla is scheduled to operate eight flights in India.

When asked about the practice of operating flights in such emergency cases, Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Md Mofidur Rahman said the airline operators have been asked to offer competitive ticket prices to make the flights economical.

The operator that offers the lowest price will be permitted to operate the charter flight.

"In the case of India, the ministry has talked with the operators and permitted US-Bangla to operate the special flight," he said.