A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight left Dhaka on Monday for Qatar with only two passengers on board at a time when the country’s aviation sector is struggling due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
A top official of the national flag carrier confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
The officials said there was no choice but for the Biman flight to take the only two travellers to Qatar due to a shortage of passengers.
The flight, with 258 empty seats, left Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) around 6:30pm and is expected to reach Doha, Qatar’s capital, around 8:40pm (local time).
The two passengers on the Biman flight came to Bangladesh with return tickets from Doha, the official added.
In a similar incident on September 2, private carrier US-Bangla Airlines took only one passenger, a Bangladeshi, from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka.
On September 3, Tahera Khondoker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman informed the media about the airline’s decision to resume operations on the Dhaka-Doha-Dhaka route from September 7.
On March 9, Biman Bangladesh Airlines had temporarily suspended all flights to Qatar following the Gulf state’s decision to ban travellers from Bangladesh.
Since 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, and international flights resumed on June 16.
On August 25, Biman again extended the suspension of all international flights – except to Dubai, London, and Kuala Lumpur – till September 15.
Biman says flights to Kolkata, Delhi, Kuwait, and Manchester will remain suspended till September 30.
The UAE government has also independently cancelled flights from Dhaka to Abu Dhabi until further notice from them.
The shortage of passengers forced Biman to cancel its flights on all domestic routes as well, except to Chittagong, Sylhet, and Syedpur.
