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The government on Wednesday brought back its 349 nationals who were stranded in India and Singapore due to flight suspension amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to BSS, a total of 164 Bangladeshi nationals from Chennai and 185 others from Singapore arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) by chartered flights of US-Bangla airlines and Singapore Airlines respectively.
“Our special flight operated by Boeing 737-800 ER aircraft arrived at HSIA at 3:50 pm from Chennai carrying 164 passengers,” said an official.
He said the passengers collected tickets for the flight at their own cost while the airline would operate two identical chartered flights from Chennai on April 24 and 25 on the same schedule to bring back nearly 330 more Bangladeshi citizens.
Earlier, 185 Bangladeshi citizens returned from Singapore by a Singapore Airlines chartered flight that also took back 98 Singaporean nationals who were stranded here amid COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Singapore Airlines flight landed here with 185 Bangladeshi returnees at 12:15 pm and took off HSIA with 98 Singaporean nationals at 2:10 pm,” Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) spokesperson M Sohel Kamruzzaman told media.
As per the government decision, all returnee Bangladeshis will be sent to 14-day institutional quarantine under management of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) if they fail to show medical certificate at the airport on their arrival here.
On April 3, the foreign ministry in Dhaka in a statement said the government is firmly committed to bring back quickly the citizens, who got stuck in India and other countries, once the situation becomes convenient.