Air services between Bangladesh & India resume under air bubble arrangement

The air-connectivity between Bangladesh and India resumed on Wednesday with two flights leaving Dhaka under the air-bubble arrangement between the two countries.

The service was inaugurated at the Hazrat Shahjalal airport in Dhaka by the High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami and the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal Mafidur Rahman.

The first two flights operated by the US Bangla airlines left for Kolkata and Chennai from Dhaka on the morning of Wednesday. The opening of the flights has come as a big relief to people travelling between the two countries. It has been welcomed specially by the people who needed urgent medical support in India.

Thanking the Civil Aviation Ministry for the start of the air-bubble service, High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami said that it will be especially useful for people with medical requirements. He said the services will help in strengthening people to people contact between the two countries.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh had announced that three Bangladeshi airlines- Biman Bangladesh, US-Bangla Airlines and NovoAir will initially operate 28 flights a week to India. Five Indian carriers including Air India, Vistara, Indigo, Spicejet and GoAIr will also run 28 flights a week between the two countries.

The Bangladeshi airlines will be operating flights from Dhaka to Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai while the Indian carriers will have flights from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai to Dhaka.

The flights between two countries have resumed after nearly eight months.The travel between India and Bangladesh was disrupted due to the outbreak of Corona pandemic.

In the meanwhile, Indian High Commission has started visa services in all categories except the tourist visa for Bangladeshi nationals.