Flights between Bangladesh and several Middle Eastern destinations saw partial resumption today after widespread cancellations triggered by security concerns in the Gulf region.The airlines have started announcing revised schedules and limited operations from Dhaka and Chattogram.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has rescheduled two flights that were cancelled earlier amid disruptions in the Middle East.The Dhaka–Madinah flight BG-337, cancelled yesterday, is now scheduled to depart today at 4:00pm. The Dhaka–Jeddah flight BG-335, cancelled yesterday, will leave Dhaka for Jeddah today at 7:00pm.Passengers have been requested to be present at the airport at the scheduled time, said Boshra Islam, general manager (public relations) of the airline, in a press release.
Another Biman flight (BG-135) on the Dhaka–Chattogram–Jeddah route is scheduled to depart for Jeddah from Shah Amanat International Airport at 4:10pm today, according to the airport’s public relations officer, Engineer Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil.
He said updates on other possible international flights will be provided as soon as they become available.Meanwhile, US-Bangla Airlines has resumed flight operations to Riyadh, Jeddah and Muscat from today as per schedule.
In a separate release, the airline requested passengers to arrive at the airport at least four hours before departure and collect boarding passes from US-Bangla check-in counters.However, considering the overall situation in the Middle East, the airline has temporarily suspended its flights to the UAE cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, as well as Doha, Qatar. Authorities said passengers will be contacted once operations to the UAE and Qatar become feasible.
For flight-related information, passengers have been requested to call 13605 or 01777777800-806.
Earlier this morning, all international flights departing for and arriving from the Middle East at Shah Amanat International Airport were cancelled, including seven arrivals and three departures. Airport authorities confirmed the cancellations in a press release.
A total of 54 Middle East-bound flights from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport were cancelled from yesterday afternoon until this morning due to security risks in the Gulf region.
Group Captain Ragib Samad, executive director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, said the flights were cancelled considering security concerns during the period mentioned.
