No Saudi-bound Bangladeshi missed flight last night
Aviation News Desk:
All 302 Saudi-bound Bangladeshi passengers were able to leave Dhaka on flight SV-802 of Saudi Airlines early Saturday.
The flight, scheduled to leave at 12:30am, was delayed by six minutes, but the 302 passengers were happy as none of them were left behind.
Md Shahidullah who came to Bangladesh on a holiday and remained stranded here for seven months due to the coronavirus outbreak, finally felt relaxed after getting the printed copy of Covid-19 negative certificate at the eleventh hour from the airport.
Although this meant he could not go back to say goodbye to his family, he found solace in the fact that all the suffering and tension surrounding the formalities before the journey had finally ended.
All passengers were provided with printed copies of their Covid-19 certificates from the expatriates’ welfare desk at the airport.
Airport authorities were prepared so that none of the passengers face any delay, said Group Captain AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan, director, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
“As none of them were able to bring along the printed copy of Covid-19 certificate in such a short time, we provided those from the expatriates’ welfare desk. That’s why the flight got delayed by six minutes,” he added.
After receiving the copies, the passengers completed the formalities for immigration and boarding.
Regarding the health guideline of carrying maximum 260 passengers on a flight with 600 or more seats, the director said that it is applicable for commercial flights, not for special ones like the one carrying the Saudi-bound passengers.
“Such special flights can be operated with the permission of the foreign ministry,” he said, adding that more such special flights will be operated soon.
The tensed passengers coming to the airport from various places of Dhaka without printed copies of their health certificates said that the airport authorities were very cooperative. Many expressed their gratitude for that.
“I cannot explain the disaster we went through over the last one week. First it was the uncertainty of getting ticket, then the struggle of getting tested for coronavirus, and then the wait for the result,” reflected Arif Hosen, one of the Saudi-bound passengers.
