A total of 230 Bangladeshi nationals have left Dhaka for Portugal by a special flight of Biman Bangladesh airlines as they were unable to travel due to the Covid-19 crisis and lockdown.
The chartered flight carrying the passengers departed for Lisbon from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) Dhaka at 2:05am on Thursday.
Tahera Khondoker, deputy general manager (DGM) (public relations) of Biman, confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
Meanwhile, another special flight of the national flag carrier flew back 413 stranded Bangladeshis from Bahrain, the Biman DGM said.
The flight from Bahrain landed in Dhaka airport at 1:30am on Thursday.
According to the Bangladesh Embassy in Bahrain, the embassy arranged the special flight at the request of expatriates who wanted to return home due to health reasons and family emergencies.
According to the embassy statement, among the 413 passengers, 70 are sick and 40 were released from Bahrain prisons.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Bahrain bore the full cost of airfares for the 18 people and partial airfares for 50 others from the Expatriate Welfare Fund.
The Bahraini government rented the plane for Bangladeshis released from its prisons.