Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate a special chartered flight from New Delhi to bring back stranded Bangladeshi citizens on Friday while US-Bangla Airlines is continuing such flights from Chennai for the same purpose since Monday, reports BSS.
“As per the government’s decision, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate a special flight from Delhi to bring back Bangladeshi nationals,” Biman’s Managing Director and CEO Md Mokabbir Hossain told the media today.
He said Biman’s aircraft would bring back 162 Bangladeshis nationals – 150 in economy class and 12 in business – by this special flight at the own costs of the passengers.
The chief of the national flag carrier said intending Bangladeshi nationals can purchase tickets for the flight from Biman’s mobile app or website from Today noon till 2 pm on April 23.
Earlier yesterday, the government in coordination with Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi brought back the first batch of Bangladeshis, who were stranded in India due to flight suspension amid the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
The chartered flight, operated by Boeing 737-800 ER aircraft of US-Bangla airlines, brought back 164 Bangladeshi nationals from Chennai.
The second such chartered flight of the US-Bangla airlines is scheduled to bring back 164 more Bangladeshi citizens from Chennai this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Monday in a statement said more similar special flights will be operated from Chennai in the next few days to bring back Bangladesh nationals who got stuck in India due to flight suspension.
The Bangladeshi High Commission is working relentlessly to bring back all the stranded Bangladeshis from all states of India, said the statement.
A good number of Bangladesh nationals have already returned home from Kolkata, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and other border areas with the support of Bangladesh missions there, it said.
On April 3, the foreign ministry issued a statement, saying that nearly 2,500 Bangladeshi citizens, including 1,000 students, were stranded in India due to COVID-19 outbreak.