Following a protest by migrant workers last week about the shortage of air tickets to Saudi Arabia, Biman Bangladesh Airlines has issued directives for migrant workers to collect tickets to Jeddah starting Sunday.
All Jeddah bound passengers who had a return ticket on March 21 are directed to contact the Biman Sales Office on Sunday to book a flight to Jeddah. The flight will leave on September 30.
Biman MD and CEO Mokabbir Hossain confirmed the matter in a statement on Saturday.
Passengers have to contact the Biman office with an existing ticket, passport, and approval from Saudi Arabia specified apps or links.
Seat reservation and booking will be on a first-come first-served basis.
Other passengers who have return flight tickets for other dates will also be notified to book seats subject to new flight approvals. So passengers who did not have a return ticket on March 21 are requested not to crowd the counter unnecessarily on Sunday, according to the statement.
Also, since the Covid-19 certificate is mandatory and the sample must reach Saudi Arabia within 48 hours of collection, all passengers have to take a Covid-19 test before departing from Dhaka.
Detailed information can be found on Biman's website, the statement read.
In March, Saudi Arabia suspended international flights to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
On September 15, it announced that it would partially lift its suspension on international flights to allow "exceptional categories" of citizens and residents to travel.
On September 21, Biman said Saudi Arabia had finally given the green light to operate flights to and from the country starting October 1.
On September 22, migrant workers stuck here in Bangladesh started demonstrating when they failed to secure tickets to Saudi Arabia while their visas and work permits (Akama) are set to expire this month.
Following their protests, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) decided to allow Saudia, the Saudi Arabian Airlines, to operate more flights to take back Bangladeshi expatriates to their workplaces in the Gulf country.
