After being suspended for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, flight operations will resume on Sunday between capital Dhaka and Chittagong, Sylhet, and Syedpur.
Air connectivity in the country will restart with 24 roundtrips daily in the three routes — 11 Dhaka-Chittagong-Dhaka, nine Dhaka-Syedpur-Dhaka and four Dhaka-Sylhet-Dhaka.
“We will operate morning and evening flights to Chittagong and Sylhet and three flights to Syedpur daily from June 1 with Dash aircraft,” Biman Bangladesh Airlines Deputy General Manager Tahera Khandoker told BSS.
US-Bangla Airlines plans to operate 10 flights a day — six for Chittagong, three for Syedpur and one for Sylhet, said its General Manager Kamrul Islam.
Novorair will operate three flights each for Chattogram and Syedpur while one for Sylhet, its Head of Sales and Marketing Mesbahul Islam said.
Citing officials, the BSS report said airlines have already taken all preparations to resume flight operations in line with the directives by the health department and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
On Thursday, CAAB announced to resume domestic flight operations on a limited scale from June 1, keeping international flights suspended till June 15.
State Minister for Civil Aviation Md Mahbub Ali urged all passengers to strictly follow health regulations and social distancing rules while travelling.
“We have taken all preparations at the airports so that people can avail of the flights maintaining social distancing and other health code to protect themselves from coronavirus,” he said on Saturday after visiting the Dhaka airport.
The government would decide on opening flight operations at other domestic destinations after June 15, Civil Aviation Secretary M Mohibul Haque told the BSS.
According to CAAB the guideline, all airlines have to keep at least 30 percent of its seats vacant on each flight to ensure social distancing by keeping at least one seat vacant between two passengers if they are not from the same family.
About the seat planning, it further instructed that seats on the front and back rows must remain vacant for carrying any passenger to be found suspected of contracting coronavirus.
All staffers of airlines will have to wear masks, gloves and disposable head caps while dealing with passengers at the check-in counters while cabin crew will wear N95 or equivalent protection facial masks, goggles, disposable rubber gloves and change facial masks every four hours, said the guideline.
Crew members will avoid close contact with passengers and provide only the necessary in-flight services to the passengers and no food and drink will be served in flights with an airtime of less than one and half hours.
Passengers’ body temperature will be measured and they have to stand in queues in front of the check-in counters and in front of the boarding gates maintaining social distancing.
