Responding to the appeal of Bangladeshis stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government has arranged a chartered flight to bring back a number of them home.
The Qatar Airways flight is likely to be either on May 14 or May 15.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with Bangladesh embassy in Washington and the consulates general of Bangladesh in New York and Los Angeles, has taken the initiative to arrange a special chartered flight of Qatar Airways to bring home stranded Bangladesh citizens from the USA possibly on 14 May or 15 May 2020,” according to a notice issued by the embassy in Washington on Monday.
Earlier, the embassy and the two consulates general circulated a notice through their websites seeking information from the Bangladeshis who had been stranded in the US amid the COVID19 pandemic. Subsequently, a large number of stranded Bangladeshi citizens provided their information by email to the Bangladesh missions, expressing their interest in returning to Bangladesh by the special flight at their own expenses, as all commercial flights to Bangladesh had been suspended after the outbreak of Covid-19.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladesh missions in the US are coordinating the arrangements related to the chartered flight of Qatar Airways either from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) or New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport, possibly on 14 May or 15 May, depending on the availability of a minimum required number of passengers for the flight.
It is estimated that the fare of each economy class ticket for this flight will be approximately US$2,200.
Under the intimation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Bangladeshi enterprise named Oryx Aviation Ltd., which is the general sales agent (GSA) in Bangladesh for Qatar Airways Cargo flights, will handle the chartering and ticketing formalities with Qatar Airways for this special flight.
Stranded Bangladeshi citizens in USA willing to avail this special flight at their own expenses are advised to contact Oryx Aviation Ltd. by visiting its online Portal @ http://galaxyaviationbd.com/airticket/, register their names through this portal and purchase tickets to confirm seats on this flight by May 8. Following the registration and purchase of tickets, Oryx Aviation authority will get in touch individually with all confirmed passengers to notify them of further details about the flight.
If further assistance regarding registration and ticketing is needed, passengers have been asked to contact Oryx Aviation Ltd. through e-mail: [email protected] or call over WhatsApp number: +8801713094664.
The embassy has forwarded to Oryx Aviation Ltd. a list of all the stranded Bangladeshis, who have meanwhile contacted the Bangladesh Missions in the US by email and requested it to arrange their return by the special flight. However, email communications with the embassy do not automatically confirm an availability of tickets. Since seats on the chartered flight are limited, passengers will be registered and issued with tickets on a first-come first-serve basis and subject to availability.
All confirmed passengers, who are scattered in different US cities and states, shall make their own arrangements to travel to IAD or JFK Airport to avail the flight on its designated date and time of departure. Once the registration and ticketing formalities are completed, Qatar Airways will decide and inform the passengers about the departing airport for the special flight.
All passengers must present before boarding the flight their copies of a “COVID-19 negative certificate” obtained from any US hospital/doctor/medical professional 72 (seventy-two) hours prior to the flight taking off. Passengers must collect this certificate by themselves.
Upon arrival at the airport in Dhaka, all passengers shall have to go through mandatory medical screening. After screening, they will be sent either to institutional quarantine centers or home quarantine as per the health guidelines of the government.
