Dr. AK Abdul Momen, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, announced today that flight connection between Bangladesh and India will be restored by August 20 under an air-bubble arrangement.
“It will begin on the 20th of August… there is a lot of demand (from many patients in Bangladesh) to resume flights to India,” he told reporters at the State Guest House Padma in the capital.
Momen stated that India had agreed to restore flight operations in response to a request from Bangladesh, citing the need to allow passenger mobility.
“We approached India (on this), and luckily they (India) decided to resume (the air-bubble accord),” he said as he accepted 31 ‘Life Support’ ambulances and over 20 tonnes of crucial medical supplies as a gift from Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami.
Bangladeshi and Indian airlines can fly international flights with limited restrictions during Covid-19, because to a bilateral air bubble pact struck last year between the two countries.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (CAAB) addressed a letter to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requesting permission to resume flying operations. The air bubble agreement expires on August 11th.
According to the CAAB letter, passengers traveling to and from Bangladesh and India must rigorously adhere to the Covid-19 procedure in order to prevent the spread of the dangerous virus.
For the time being, CAAB requested 21 flights per week for both countries’ carriers in the letter. Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate nine flights on the Dhaka-Kolkata/Chennai/Delhi-Dhaka routes and two flights on the Chattogram-Kolkata/Chennai/Delhi-Chattogram routes under this plan.
US Bangla Airlines will run seven flights between Dhaka and Kolkata, Chennai, and Delhi, and Novo Air will operate one flight between Dhaka and Kolkata, Chennai, and Delhi.
Meanwhile, with the easing of the countrywide lockdown in both countries, the Indian Visa Application Centres (IVAC) here started operations on August 11.
