221 Bangladeshi citizens have returned home from India amid the coronavirus pandemic.
They had been stranded in the neighbouring country’s Kolkata and Mumbai due to travel restrictions forced by the outbreak.
Two special flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines with the passengers landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 3:40pm and 6:55pm respectively, on Sunday.
Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
The national flag carrier was scheduled to operate three special flights to bring home Bangladeshis stranded in Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai, in the first week of May.
On April 29, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) extended the suspension of all international and domestic flights until May 7 in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Passenger flights to Bahrain, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom (UK) are under this travel restriction.
However, special flights, air ambulances, emergency landing flights, and cargo flights will remain out of the purview of the ban, according to CAAB.
As of Sunday, Bangladesh confirmed 9,455 coronavirus cases with the death toll rising to 177 after two new fatalities were reported.
The fast spreading Covid-19 has so far killed 245,000 people in more than 200 countries and territories.