Domestic flights resume today

Flight operations on all seven domestic routes will resume today on a limited scale after a 16-day suspension.

Group Captain Chy M Zia Ul Kabir, member (Flight Standard & Regulations) of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The number of passengers and flights will be limited on different routes, he added.

All domestic routes will open except Cox's Bazar, said sources in CAAB.

On April 3, it decided to suspend all domestic flights in Bangladesh from April 5 to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Aviation Operators Association of Bangladesh has been demanding withdrawal of the suspension, saying that flying is the safest mode of transportation as airlines operators follow health guidelines properly while operating their flights.

Talking to The Daily Star, officials of US-Bangla Airlines and Novo Air, two private carriers of the country, said they were ready to resume flights on domestic routes.

FLIGHTS TO CHINA RESUME

The CAAB yesterday said due to urgency of Bangladeshi passengers, it has decided to allow flights of Biman, US-Bangla, China Eastern and China Southern airlines to operate passenger flights between Dhaka and China under special consideration.

Passengers coming to Bangladesh by the flights cleared under this special consideration shall strictly have to complete a 14-day institutional quarantine in the government nominated facilities or at hotels on passenger's own expenses.

Airlines shall issue boarding passes after ensuring that the institutional quarantine arrangements is in place for the passenger concerned.

All incoming and outgoing passengers will mandatory carry PCR-based Covid-19 negative certificates and the test shall be done within 72 hours of the flight departure.

For outgoing flights from Dhaka, CAAB said there is no capacity restriction for narrow-bodied (single-isle) aircraft.

But all wide-bodied aircraft shall carry a maximum of 280 passengers. Boeing 777s and 747s could carry up to 320 passengers.

For incoming flights to Dhaka, CAAB set a limit of 100 passengers in the narrow-bodied aircraft and 150 passengers in wide-bodied ones, CAAB added.

All flights must leave at least the last row of economy class and one seat of business class empty for any suspected Covid-19 patients.

US-Bangla Airlines yesterday said they would start operating flight on Dhaka-Guangzhou route from April 24 with special permission of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

The leading private airlines of the country will primarily operate flights once a week.