Bangladesh extends suspension on flight operations until May 7

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) on Monday extended the suspension of all international and domestic flights until May 7 in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the country.

 “The ban on international passenger flights has been extended until May 7,” said a Caab press release.

Bahrain, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United Kingdom (UK) will come under the restriction, the release added.

But special flights, air ambulance, emergency landing flights and cargo flights will remain out of the purview of the ban, it said.

On March 21, Bangladesh cancelled all international passenger flights until March 31 with 10 countries. Later, the ban was extended until April 7.

On March 15, the country suspended on-arrival visas for all countries for two weeks.

Bangladesh on Monday announced 497 new coronavirus cases with seven deaths, surging the death tally to 152 and confirmed cases to 5913.

The World Health Organization on March 11 declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic.

Kamruzzaman