The air connectivity is going to resume today with 24 daily roundtrip flights on three internal routes from and to the capital after more than a two-month suspension for containing outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the 24 daily flights, 11 will be operated on Dhaka-Chattogram-Dhaka, nine on Dhaka-Syedpur-Dhaka and four on Dhaka-Sylhet-Dhaka routes.
The national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Novoair each will operate seven flights daily while US-Bangla will conduct 10 daily flights on three routes, airlines official sources said.
“We will operate morning and evening flights to Chattogram and Sylhet and three flights to Syedpur daily from June 1 by our Dash aircraft,” Biman’s Deputy General Manager Tahera Khandoker told the media.
US-Bangla Airlines General Manager Kamrul Islam said they have a plan to operate six daily flights to port city Chattogram while three to Syedpur and one to Sylhet.
Novoair head of sales and marketing Mesbahul Islam said they would operate three flights to each Chattogram and Syedpur and one flight to Sylhet daily.
The airlines officials said they have already taken all preparations to resume domestic flight operations following the CAAB prescribed health guideline including disinfecting the aircraft before boarding passenger every time.
On Thursday, the government decided to resume domestic flight operations on a limited scale initially on Dhaka- Chattogram, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Syedpur routes from June 1 while the ongoing international flight suspension will be enforced till June 15.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali urged all intending passengers to strictly follow health regulations and social distancing while travelling by air from today as he visited HSIA to inspect the preparation on Saturday.
“We have taken all preparations at the airports so that people can avail of the flights maintaining social distancing and other health code to protect themselves from coronavirus,” he said after visiting the airport.
Civil Aviation and Tourism secretary M Mohibul Haque said that the preparation at the airports to resume flight operations following health guidelines had been seen satisfactory and they would consider reopening flights on all the seven domestic destinations, including Jashore and Rajshahi, after June 15.
Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Mofidur Rahman said all the airlines must follow the health guidelines, including the social distancing instructions, issued by his office, to operate the domestic flights.
According to CAAB the guideline, all airlines have to keep at least 30 percent seats vacant on each flight to ensure social distancing by keeping at least a gap of a seat between two passengers if they are not from the same family.
About the seat planning, it further instructed that the frontal or the last row of seats on each flight must remain vacant for carrying any passenger to be found suspected of contracting coronavirus.
All staffers of airlines will have to wear masks, gloves and disposable head caps while dealing with passengers at the check-in counters while cabin crew will wear N95 or equivalent protection facial masks, goggles, disposable rubber gloves and change facial masks every four hours, said the guideline.
Crew members will avoid close contact with passengers and provide only the necessary in-flight services to the passengers and no food and drink will be served in flights with an airtime of less than one and half hours.
Passengers’ body temperature will be measured and they have to stand in queues in front of the check-in counters and in front of the boarding gates maintaining social distancing.
