Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has once again come under fire following another incident of passenger harassment.
A five-member expatriate family traveling to London from Norway reportedly faced abuse, with one member being physically assaulted.
Video footage of the altercation has since gone viral on social media.
Witnesses, speaking anonymously, reported that the family was preparing to board a Turkish Airlines flight to London.
During check-in at Row E, airline staff refused to accept a bag full of vegetables due to excess weight.
The disagreement escalated into a physical altercation when the family tried to carry the banned bag as cabin luggage.
Airline staff sought the assistance of Aviation Security (Avsec) personnel, but the situation led to one passenger being physically restrained before being released. The family ultimately boarded the flight without the disputed bag.
In response, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) issued a statement clarifying the events, which occurred on January 13 during Turkish Airlines flight TK 713 (Dhaka-Istanbul-London) between staff member Shams Uddin and a passenger on that flight.
According to the statement, the passenger was found carrying hand luggage weighing 24 kilograms, far exceeding the airline's 7-kilogram limit.
When airline staff intervened, a verbal altercation ensued, followed by the passenger being temporarily detained.
The excess luggage was discarded before the family boarded the flight with an empty bag.
CAAB added: “Honorable passengers are allowed a maximum of 7kg of hand luggage per the airline’s policy. The airline staff were simply enforcing this rule, which led to a confrontation.”
This incident comes on the heels of another controversy on January 8, when Feni-based Norwegian expatriate Saeed Uddin was reportedly killed in front of his father at the airport’s canopy gate. That case led to public outrage, prompting the transfer of two Avsec personnel involved.
