‘Health guidelines must be followed for domestic air travel’

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali has urged all air passengers to follow the hygiene rules and ensure social distancing when they travel on domestic routes.

He made the request while speaking at an online briefing on Friday.

He said the airlines would operate domestic flights by adhering to all hygiene- and social distancing-related guidelines.

“The domestic flights on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Syedpur routes will resume on June 1, on a limited scale,” the state minister added.

After a hiatus of almost two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s civil aviation authority has decided to partially resume domestic flight operations from June 1, as the months-long general holiday comes to an end on May 30.

On Thursday, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshall M Mafidur Rahman said the airports allowed to resume flight operations had already installed thermal scanners and adopted other safety measures for health check.

“Domestic flights on the remaining routes will resume after the other airports ensure guidelines given by the health authorities”, he told Dhaka Tribune.

The ban on passenger flights to and from international routes will remain effective until June 15, the CAAB chief said, adding: “It may be lifted earlier if other countries withdraw travel bans.”