Abdul Alim had set out from Comilla early in the morning, hoping to catch a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, scheduled to depart at 2:00am on Monday. By 8:00pm, he had reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, expecting to begin his journey.
But he never got to board it.
“My flight was at 2:00am, and I’m still sitting here,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Alim said several flights had already been cancelled over the past three days, leaving many passengers stranded.
“If we had been informed beforehand that the flight would not operate, we could have avoided this. Instead, we had to go through all this harassment,” he said.
The disruption has also left him worried about his job in Saudi Arabia, his ticket refund and when he will be able to travel.
“I’m extremely worried. On one hand, I fear losing my job in Saudi Arabia. On the other, I don’t know whether I’ll get a refund for my ticket or when I’ll be able to fly,” he said.
Brahmanbaria resident Ibrahim Molla was similarly stranded after arriving at the airport on Sunday evening for his flight.
“My luck is bad. Now I’m worried about how I’ll save my job if I cannot return. If I stay in Bangladesh, my wife and children will have nothing to eat,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
After visiting Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, it was found that scores of expatriate passengers waiting outside Terminals-1 and 2 after their Riyadh-bound flights were cancelled.
Repeated cancellations since Saturday have left passengers crowding the terminals, with some waiting for updates and others returning home after spending hours at the airport.
Manik from Chandpur told Dhaka Tribune that he had travelled to Dhaka with his brother Mobarak, whom he had accompanied to the airport. They arrived on Sunday evening but later learned that the flight had been cancelled.
“We waited at the airport until dawn before returning home in the morning,” he said.
Another Saudi-bound passenger, Shah Alam, said he was scheduled to return to Saudi Arabia on Sunday night after spending his leave in Bangladesh.
He had purchased his ticket in advance and arrived at the airport with his family at the scheduled time, only to learn that his flight had been cancelled.
He said he had not received clear information about when the next flight would depart.
“I have to return to Saudi Arabia at any cost. I will face problems if I cannot reach there on time,” he said.
He added that he was worried about losing his job or facing problems over his visa and employer’s requirements if he failed to report to work on time.
Fifty-one flights from Dhaka to Riyadh have been cancelled since the Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
The cancelled flights were scheduled to carry a total of 5,418 passengers, CAAB said on Monday afternoon.
Among direct flights, a total of 12 were disrupted, four operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines, two by US-Bangla Airlines, three by Saudia Airlines and three by Riyadh Air.
Another 39 transit flights were disrupted, including 16 operated by IndiGo Airlines, three by SalamAir, one by EgyptAir, nine by Emirates, five by Qatar Airways and five by flydubai.
Overall, 51 flights were affected, 12 direct and 39 transit flights, disrupting travel for a total of 5,418 passengers.
Operations at King Khalid International Airport were suspended after the attack on Saturday night, disrupting air connectivity between Dhaka and Riyadh.
Passengers have been advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates on their flights.
According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, all flights bound for Riyadh were either diverted or cancelled following the Houthi attack and explosions at the airport on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Reuters also reported that airport authorities had advised passengers to contact their airlines before travelling to the airport and verify the latest status of their flights.
CAAB Assistant Director (Public Relations) Muhammad Kawsar Mahmud told Dhaka Tribune on Monday afternoon that 12 flights had been cancelled, affecting more than 4,000 passengers and expatriate Bangladeshis.
“Depending on the situation, the airlines will announce the schedules of subsequent flights. We have advised passengers to remain in contact with their airlines,” he said.
Two Bangladeshis were killed and 24 others injured in the attack, while around 500 Bangladeshi passengers remain stranded due to the disruption to flight operations.
According to sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, the two deceased were Md Shahed Ahmed and Md Nasrullah Badrpuri.
Citing the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh, the Foreign Ministry said 11 of the 24 injured Bangladeshis were Saudi-based workers, while the other 13 had travelled to the country on Umrah visas.
They are receiving treatment at various hospitals in Riyadh. The Bangladesh Embassy is maintaining contact with hospital authorities to gather information about the injured and ensure they receive necessary treatment.
On Saturday, Houthi rebels launched a drone attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Following the attack, all operations at the airport were suspended indefinitely.
The suspension has left Bangladeshi expatriates and Umrah pilgrims facing severe travel disruptions.
The attack is reportedly the deadliest assault in a Gulf Arab country since the Iran-US war began in February.
