Four flights to evacuate UK citizens from Bangladesh

The British High Commission in Bangladesh arranged four chartered flights of British Airways to evacuate British citizens from Bangladesh and take them back to the United Kingdom.

Robert Chatterton Dickson, the British High Commissioner in Bangladesh, in a video message on Saturday, said starting from April 21, the flights will be operated on the 23rd, 25th and 26th April.

The high commission requested the UK Citizens, who want to go home, to register their names through Corporate Travel Management (CTM).  Earlier last week, the UK requested its citizens to register their name online.

The High Commissioner also said that they have arranged shuttle flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines to take people from Sylhet to Dhaka to get board on the flights to the UK.

UK High Commissioner Dickson said, "We've worked very hard to keep the cost of these flights as low as we can. The price per head will be £600 whether you're starting in Dhaka or Sylhet."

"You can book these flights through Corporate Travel Management (CTM), our travel management partner. And you can find details on our social media and on our travel advice website on how you can book with CTM," he added.

Due to flight restrictions announced by the Bangladesh government in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, there are currently no commercial flights available to travel to the UK from Bangladesh.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has extended the suspension of its domestic and international flights, including from the UK, till April 30.

"China Southern and US-Bangla airlines are still operating flights to China but these are for Chinese nationals only," the British High Commission in Bangladesh said.

In late March, the Bangladesh government briefed foreign envoys that it would allow foreign nationals living here to leave the country by chartered flights as commercial flights were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the announcement, 919 stranded Americans were evacuated by the US Embassy on three separate chartered flights of Qatar Airways.

A total of 290 Australian citizens and permanent residents left Dhaka for Melbourne on last Thursday night in a non-scheduled flight of Sri Lankan Airlines.

On March 26, 354 Malaysian and Bhutanese citizens left Dhaka on three separate flights. Of them, two Drukair flights carried 124 Bhutanese nationals and 230 Malaysians went in a Malaysia Airlines flight.

The Japanese government evacuated 327 of its nationals from Dhaka on April 2 through a chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh.

A total of 123 citizens of European Union (EU) countries left Dhaka for Frankfurt, Germany on April 10 in a special chartered flight of German Condor Airlines.