ZOOMBANGLA DESK: A total of 318 more Bangladeshi nationals, who have been stranded in India amid flight suspension due to COVID-19 pandemic, arrived here from New Delhi and Chennai by separate chartered flights today, BSS reports.

Among the returnees, 151 Bangladeshi nations arrived here from Indian capital by a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines while 167 returned from South Indian city of Chennai by a US-Bangla Airlines chartered special flight.

“Our special flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) from New Delhi at 4:43 pm carrying 151 Bangladeshi nationals,” Biman’s Deputy General Manager (PR) Tahera Khondoker told BSS.

Earlier, the US-Bangla Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft landed here from Chennai at 2:50 PM bringing back 164 adults and 3 infants Bangladeshi citizens, the airlines officials said.

Both the chartered flights were facilitated by the government in coordination with Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

As per the government decision, all returnee Bangladeshis will be sent to a 14-day institutional quarantine under the management of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) if they fail to show medical certificate at the airport on their arrival here.

From April 20 till today, around 1,800 Bangladeshis were brought back from India by eleven chartered flights – eight from Chennai, operated by US-Bangla Airlines, and two from New Delhi and one from Kolkata, operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines – while the passengers bore the cost of their own tickets.

Bangladesh High Commission in India has kept their efforts on to facilitate the return of more Bangladeshis who are still stuck up in India.

Three more chartered flights of Biman are scheduled to bring back more stranded Bangladeshi from Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai.

On April 3, the foreign ministry issued a statement, saying that nearly 2,500 Bangladeshi citizens, including 1,000 students, were stranded in India due to COVID-19 outbreak.

On April 27, Bangladesh extended the ongoing ban on flight operation for the fourth consecutive time till May 7 to and from all European countries and the nations including India that restricted the entry of Bangladeshis to their territories as well as on all domestic routes over the coronavirus scare.