Bangladesh gives Emirates greenlight to resume flights to Dhaka

Bangladesh has resumed air connectivity with the United Arab Emirates after the civil aviation authority gave Emirates Airlines permission to operate flights to and from the country.

Emirates will operate three flights to the UAE a week from Jun 21, Air Vice-Marshal Md Mofidur Rahman, the chairman of CAAB, said on Friday. Only transit passengers or the people who live there will be allowed into those flights.

The government approved passenger flights in and out of the UK and Qatar from Jun 16 after lifting a three-month suspension of international flights.

Qatar Airways resumed flight services to Bangladesh in the early hours of Tuesday while Biman Bangladesh Airlines will restart flights to London from Jun 21.

Bangladesh cut off its air links with Europe on Mar 16 in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Flights to other countries were suspended a few days later. Only flights to and from China were operational at a reduced capacity during this period.

Meanwhile, domestic flights on three routes reopened on Jun 1.

All the airlines were asked to continue services while following the health directives by CAAB, which limited the passenger capacity on flights to 70 percent in an effort to maintain physical distancing.