More than 350 Canadians leave by 4th chartered flight

More than 350 Canadian citizens and permanent residents stranded here amid flight suspension due to COVID-19 pandemic left here for Toronto by a special chartered flight of Qatar Airways.

"The fourth and final special flight arranged by the Canadian High Commission departed Dhaka for Toronto via Doha today, bringing home more than 350 stranded Canadians citizens and permanent residents," a Canadian High Commission press release said here today.

To date, it said the four chartered flights have allowed over 1110 stranded Canadians to return home from Bangladesh, with all passengers agreeing to pay or reimburse their tickets.

Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Benoit Prefontaine, said his country is grateful to all Bangladesh government authorities involved as well as Qatar Airways for their continued support.

The High Commission recommends that Canadians remaining in Bangladesh register in the online Registry of Canadians Abroad and follow it on social media to receive important information, said the release.

On May 14, Bangladesh extended the ongoing ban on flight operations for the sixth consecutive time till May 30 to and from all European countries and the nations that restricted the entry of Bangladeshis to their territories as well as on all domestic routes over the coronavirus fear.

Other countries, including the USA, India, Japan, Australia, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Bhutan, Myanmar and different European countries also operated several special chartered flights amid the flight suspension to repatriate their citizens from here.

Dhaka also repatriated stranded Bangladeshis from different countries, including India, the USA, the UK, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and the Maldives.