Air connectivity with India may resume by Aug 20

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today hoped that air connectivity between Bangladesh and India would be resumed under air-bubble arrangement by August 20.

“(Hopefully) It will start by (Aug) 20th … there is so much of demand (to resume flight to India) from many patients here in Bangladesh,” he told reporters at State Guest House Padma in the capital.

Momen said that India had agreed to resume flight operations based on a request made by Bangladesh considering demands to facilitate the movement of passengers.

“We requested India (regarding this) and thankfully they (India) agreed to resume (air-bubble pact),” he said while receiving 31 ‘Life Support’ Ambulances and nearly 20 tonnes of essential medical supplies as gift from Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami here.

Under the bilateral air bubble pact, signed last year between the two countries, airlines of both Bangladesh and India can operate international flights with certain restrictions during the Covid-19
pandemic.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has sent a letter to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India seeking its approval for resumption of the flight operations from
August 11 under the air bubble agreement.

The CAAB letter said that the passengers to and from Bangladesh and India have to strictly follow some Covid-19 protocol to contain spread of the deadly virus.

In the letter, CAAB proposed 21 flights per week for the operators of both the countries for this time being.

Under this proposal, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate nine flights in Dhaka- Kolkata/Chennai/Delhi-Dhaka routes while two flights in Chattogram-Kolkata/ Chennai/ Delhi-Chattogram.

US Bangla airlines will operate seven flights in Dhaka-Kolkata/Chennai/Delhi-Dhaka and Novo Air to operate one flight in Dhaka-Kolkata/Chennai/Delhi-Dhaka routes.

Meanwhile, the Indian Visa Application Centres (IVAC) here resumed operations from August 11 in the wake of lifting of countrywide lockdown in both the countries.

According to a report of India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, out of the foreigners who visit India for medical purposes, 45 percent are from Bangladesh.

More than 13.7 million foreigners took treatment in India between January 2018 and March 2019 while out of them 2.8 million are Bangladeshis, the report added. (BSS)