Operation of regular international flights to and from Dhaka resumed on May 1 after a 17-day suspension due to coronavirus restrictions.

But there is a travel ban on India, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Mongolia, Oman, South Africa and Tunisia, according to a circular issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

This ban excludes the Bangladeshis who went to these countries for a short visit in the 15 days prior to their arrival in Dhaka and have special permission from the authorities, it said.

And people arriving from 26 countries will be required to be in quarantine for up to 14 days at government-selected hotels at their own expenses, it added.

The countries are: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Kuwait, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Uruguay.

Airlines will check whether a hotel has been booked before issuing a boarding pass, it said.

For people coming from Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, the quarantine period is three days, it said, adding that after the three days, if they test negative for coronavirus, they will be asked to be in home quarantine for 11 days.

If the people from the aforesaid 26 selected countries had transit in India, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Mongolia, Oman, South Africa and Tunisia, they will be allowed to enter Bangladesh provided that they remained at the airport during the transit, it said.

People arriving from any other country will be asked to be in home quarantine for 14 days.

The government suspended regular flight operations on all international routes on April 14, said the statement.

It allowed operation of special flights to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Singapore and Oman from April 17 so that several thousand expatriate workers, whose visas and work permits were about to expire, could fly to their work places.

Special flights to China, Bahrain and Kuwait were also resumed later.

US-BANGLA TO OPERATE FLIGHTS TO MALAYSIA

US-Bangla's Boeing 737-800 with 164 seats will leave Dhaka for Kuala Lumpur every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00pm from May 4, officials said.

From Kuala Lumpur, the flight will leave for Dhaka at 3:00am on Wednesday and Friday and will reach Dhaka at 5:00am.

US-Bangla Airlines is currently operating flights from Dhaka to Dubai, Doha, Singapore and Guangzhou as per the government's instructions amid the pandemic.

The airlines suspended flight operations to Muscat, Chennai and Kolkata due to restrictions.