British Airways seeks Bangladesh clearance to resume Dhaka-London flights after 11 years

British Airways has applied for permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh or CAAB to fly Dhaka-London direct after 11 years.

The civil aviation and tourism ministry was checking the application, said its Secretary Md Mohibul Haque on Sunday.

“We are considering this positively,” he said and added that they would discuss the issue on Nov 29.

A chartered British Airways plane carried 269 Britons, who had been stranded in Bangladesh due to travel restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic, from Dhaka on Apr 21.

It was the first British Airways passenger flight between Bangladesh and UK in 11 years.

British Airways had scrapped its flights on Dhaka-London route in March, 2009 following losses after operating for decades.

One of the world’s “most popular” airlines, it had been running commercial passenger flights once a week between the two capitals and started ferrying passengers by

Boeing 777 in October 2001, with three direct flights a week.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to a newly-born Bangladesh on Jan 10, 1972 by a special British Airways flight on being released by Pakistan.

After British Airways halted the flights, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines expanded their business in Bangladesh. They carry passengers to Europe and the US via Dubai, Doha and Istanbul from Bangladesh.

Currently, Biman Bangladesh Airlines operates direct flights on Dhaka-London route.