Over 300 local travel agencies, approved by Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, will now be able to book hotels in Saudi Arabia through the airlines' financial and software channels.
This move aims to ease complexities regarding Bangladeshi migrant workers' institutional quarantine in the Middle Eastern country.
A press release was issued in this regard by the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment on Thursday.
As per the release, Saudia has also agreed to reissue tickets without additional fees for those who missed their flights due to hotel booking related issues since May 20.
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Expatriates will be able to change the date of their tickets or get reissued from the respective travel agencies as well as from Dhaka's Saudi Arabia Airlines' office.
The migrant workers who will purchase up-down ticket of Saudi Arabian Airlines in Saudi Arabia will be able to reconfirm ticket or change its date at the offices of approved local travel agencies in different cities of Bangladesh including Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong.
A fee of maximum Tk2,000 for hotel booking and another fee of maximum Tk500 for ticket reissuance has been set separately and the fees have to be paid at the travel agencies.
Saudi authorities issued a travel advisory effective from May 20 for passengers traveling to the Kingdom from different non-restricted countries including Bangladesh to contain spread of Covid-19.
As per the advisory, people who did not complete both Covid-19 vaccine doses in their home countries or did not take one dose of the vaccine while staying in Saudi Arabia have to undergo mandatory institutional quarantine there.
