Departing Migrants: Turkish Airlines starts issuing tickets

Turkish Airways started issuing tickets to Italy-bound Bangladeshi expatriates from yesterday, giving hopes to some of the 15,000 people waiting to return to the European country.

The tickets are being issued at the Gulshan office of the Turkey flag carrier to people with permission to stay in Italy, said Ejaz Kadry, sales and traffic officer of the company.

Besides, Qatar Airways and Emirates recently started carrying Bangladeshi passengers to Italy, officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said.

But many of the 15,000 expatriates won't be able to return to Italy because their residency permit has expired, Hridoy Ahmed, spokesperson of a platform of Bangladeshi expatriate workers, told The Daily Star yesterday.

A delegation of the platform Italy Help Centre might meet the Italian ambassador today at his office to discuss the issue.

On October 12, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said Italy wouldn't allow Bangladeshis to enter the country until December 31, due to fears of a second wave of Covid-19.

On October 15, Momen said Italy had withdrawn the flight embargo for Bangladeshis with valid stay permits. People whose permits have expired should make formal applications, he added.

Since early yesterday, several hundred workers gathered at the Turkish Airlines office for the tickets.

Ejaz said they are making the passengers fill out certain forms for necessary information.

"We will create a database based on that information. Then we will send a message to their phones asking them to collect their return ticket on a particular date," he told The Daily Star.

For now, the airlines will give tickets to only the people whose resident permit will expire before November 30.

The process of issuing tickets will continue later.

Turkish Airlines will not be carrying more than 60 to 70 Italy-bound passengers throughout this month and November, officials said, adding that the rest of the 200 to 210 seats had been booked beforehand.

Turkish Airlines is now operating Airbus 330 and Dreamliner between Dhaka and Istanbul.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, airline companies carry a maximum of 260 passengers in wide-body planes.

There are at least 2,000 Italy-bound passengers who have valid residence permits.

Turkish Airlines is operating seven flights from Dhaka to Istanbul each week.