With the runway now cleared, Muscat-bound BG-021 with 241 passengers was scheduled to depart at 9:45pm yesterday as the first international flight from the airport after July 1, Biman District Manager Ahmed Hossain said.

After five hours' dragging through the runway on three trailers, the damaged DC-10 aircraft reached Bay-5 point, about a kilometre away from the crash spot at 7:55am.

The aircraft was earlier lifted on four trailers and dragged to the runway from the muddy patch where it was lying for the last ten days.

The DC-10 flying from Dubai with 215 passengers aboard skidded off the runway on July 01 after it was forced to make a crash-landing "due to technical faults".

Due to the delay of the plane's salvage, Biman authorities had to cancel at least 10 outgoing and 15 incoming international flights from and to the Chittagong airport in last ten days and incurred huge financial loss, sources said.

A 300-strong army contingent, a 40-member team of Bangladesh Biman engineers and technicians and Biman and Caab officials took part in the 10-day mammoth operation that used two army tanks, an armoured recovery vehicle, large cranes and trailers.