Bangladesh resumes international flights after 3 months amid pandemic

International flight operations have resumed in Bangladesh after nearly three months of suspension over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Bangladesh's air connectivity with the rest of the world was restored with the arrival of a Qatar Airways flight carrying 33 passengers in Dhaka in the early hours of Tuesday, AHM Towhid Ul Ahsan, director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport told bdnews24.com.

The airliner departed for Qatar with 274 passengers on board at 3:10 am and will now operate three flights a week on the Dhaka-Doha route, he added.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines will resume its flights to London on Jun 21.

The coronavirus outbreak forced countries across the world to cut off international air connectivity.

Bangladesh followed suit and barred incoming flights from all European countries, save the United Kingdom, on Mar 16 as the government enforced a shutdown to limit the spread of the infection.

After stretching the prohibition several times since, Bangladesh resumed flights on domestic routes on Jun 1 and continued flights to and from China only as CAAB extended suspension on all other international flights until Jun 15.

However, chartered flights, cargo flights, air ambulances and emergency landings were not affected by this ban.