National carrier flag Biman Bangladesh Airlines resumed its international flights with a Dhaka-London flight carrying 187 passengers following a three-month-long hiatus, which was to a global ban on flight movement to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The Biman flight left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for London, the United Kingdom, at 12:02 pm on Sunday.
Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft of Biman is being operated on the London route, said Tahera Khondoker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman.
She said the scheduled flight left Dhaka to London and will be back on Monday with a passenger.
From March 21, the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) had shut down all domestic and international flights in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
On June 1, CAAB permitted operation of all domestic flights maintaining social distancing and following health guidelines after over two-month-long suspension.
The domestic flights on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Syedpur, and Dhaka-Jessore routes then resumed on a limited scale.
However, the shortage of passengers forced the national flag carrier to cancel its flights on four domestic routes.
In line with the government and CAAB's decision, international flights from the country then resumed on June 16, after nearly three months of suspension aimed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. That day, a Qatar Airways flight left Dhaka at 2am.
Officials said Biman will now operate international flight by ensuring social distancing in seat allocation and proper aircraft cleaning measures as per the guideline of CAAB as well as making modified meal service and care kits available for all passengers.
The UAE’s Dubai based Emirates Airlines also resumed flight operations from Dhaka on Sunday, while Dhaka planned to give a nod to Turkish Airlines and Sharjah’s Air Arabia to restart operations from July 1.
Earlier, Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Mohibul Haque had said that Biman would operate daily London flight gradually like the previous regular scheduled flight upon getting enough passengers, reports BSS.
The senior secretary said the government would like to reestablish air connectivity with the external world on a limited scale while the country has almost been cut off from the globe as currently, flight operation remains open with China only.
Emirates airlines will operate three weekly flights on Dubai-Dhaka-Dubai route on every Saturday, Monday and Thursday while Qatar Airlines is operating flights on Doha-Dhaka-Doha route on every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
