B’desh likely to suspend int’l flights from April 14

By Sumi KhanDhaka, April 11 : The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) on Sunday said it is planning to suspend all international flights as the government is going to impose a strict lockdown from April 14 to contain the spread of Covid-19.

On Saturday, the country registered 77 more deaths in 24 hours, shattering its all previous records.

The number of new coronavirus cases dropped slightly to 5,343, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Bangladesh.Air-Vice Marshal M.Mofidur Rahman, chairman of CAAB told IANS, a decision is yet to be taken on the issue.He mentioned, "The operation of flights will depend on the instructions of the government and if the strict lockdown starts from Wednesday then CAAB will take decision on international flights as per the governments lockdown order.

"Earlier on April 1, the CAAB issued an office order which said 4 days hotel quarantine is mandatory for all passengers from India, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Oman, UAE upon arrival in Bangladesh at their own expenses.Besides, passengers from Doha shall not be allowed to enter Bangladesh till 18 April during the embargo period.

No restriction will be imposed on the movement of chartered flights, cargo flights and special flights carrying high commissioners of different countries and foreign nationals, the chairman said.The flight operations on domestic routes of Bangladesh remained suspended since the enforcement of the seven-day lockdown in the country from April 5.