Biman Bangladesh Airlines has announced to resume flights to India from today (August 22nd). The flag carrier is initially planning to operate flights to Delhi on Sundays and Wednesdays and to Kolkata on Sundays and Tuesdays, said official sources.
Passengers will have to go through a series of formalities to buy tickets. A passenger will have to fill up a self-reporting form using a specific website, then register with Delhi Airport website, test for Covid-19 within 72 hours before departure and upload the report to a specific website.
For this purpose, Biman has sent letters and texts to its travel agents.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh said they are yet to get any formal letter from India about resuming flights. However, they are hoping to get the letter from India very soon.
On August 4, CAAB sent a proposal to India citing different conditions for resuming flights between the two countries under an air bubble agreement.
Millions of Bangladeshis, including patients, businessmen, and students, used to visit India every year while many Indians used to visit Bangladesh on various purposes.
When coronavirus first spread across the country in 2020, flights with India remained suspended for several months. Flights between Bangladesh and India resumed on October 28 under the air bubble agreement.
Later, on April 14, 2021 Bangladesh suspended all international flights after the second wave of coronavirus hit the country hard. After a hiatus of 16 days, international flights resumed from May 1, excluding 12 countries including India.
In its latest circular on July 5, CAAB made a fresh list of eight countries, including India, from where no passengers are allowed to enter Bangladesh.
But now under air bubble agreement, flights between the two countries are resuming.
Already, all Indian Visa Application Centres in Bangladesh resumed operations following the lifting of the Covid-19 lockdown across the country. However, all applications except tourist visas are currently accepted.
On August 4, CAAB sent a letter to the Director General of Civil Aviation of India, CAAB proposed 21 flights a week for each of the countries under air bubble agreement.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines, NOVOAIR, and US Bangla of Bangladesh operate flights to India while Air India, Indigo, SpiceJet, Vistara, and GoAir of India operate flights to Bangladesh.