Rashidul Hasan

Turkish Airways started issuing tickets to Italy-bound Bangladeshi expatriates from yesterday, giving hopes to some of the 15,000 people waiting to return to the European country.

Air communications between Bangladesh and India will resume from October 28 after being suspended for more than seven months due to Covid-19.

The Cabinet Division has sought actions over violations of the electoral code of conduct for local body polls by the Faridpur-4 lawmaker and a newly elected upazila chairman.

Rush for tickets to Saudi Arabia went down to some extent after the number of flights was increased, but Bangladeshis seeking to go to the Arab country are not getting enough time to get tested for Covid-19 due to tight flight schedule.

“IT-based rural post office” -- that’s what is written on the two-room pucca building of Koilain Post Office in Nawabganj, Dhaka.

Although the government has resumed international flights, many expatriate workers are facing difficulties in returning to Saudi Arabia due to the big gap between the demand for tickets and the frequency of flights.

Many migrant workers are still uncertain about rejoining work in Saudi Arabia anytime soon as several foreign airlines are yet to resume flights to the kingdom.

Many migrant workers, who got stuck after coming from Saudi Arabia on vacation, are having to ask their employers to get their visas and residence permits renewed.

The Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 50 to 60 flights between Dhaka and Saudi Arabia this month in a bid to fly more workers waiting to go back to the Gulf country.

Tensions continue to brew between pro- and anti-government leaders from Hefajat-e-Islam and Qwami madrasas over securing the top posts of the Chattogram-based Islamist group, Qwami Madrasa Education Board (Befaq), and Al-Haiyatul Ulia Lil-Jamiatil Qwamia Bangladesh, which is the highest level of Qwami madrasa education in the country.

Biman has started operating flights to Saudi Arabia while Saudia has increased the number of its weekly flights from Dhaka, offering some relief to around 55,000 stranded Bangladeshi migrants seeking to go back to work in the Gulf country.

At least 55,000 Bangladeshi expatriates have been waiting to board Saudi Arabia-bound flights with return their tickets in hand since the Covid-19 pandemic halted their return to the Kingdom.

Around 2pm on Saturday, Mir Abdus Salam was frantically explaining to sample collectors why he needed his Covid-19 test report in less than nine hours.

Migrant workers, who had been stranded at home ever since they came back from Saudi Arabia for holidays, yesterday said they were worried about the renewal of their work permits despite assurance from Bangladesh government.

From early morning to around 2:30pm yesterday, the situation seemed normal at the Dhaka North City Corporation Market at the city’s Mohakhali as the Bangladeshi expatriates -- mainly Saudi Arabia and UAE-bound workers -- stood in the queue for Covid-19 test.

All the stranded Bangladeshi expatriate workers will be able to return to their workplaces in Saudi Arabia and they need not to be worried about it, said Tarik A Alowaidi, country manager at Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The authorities have decided to allow more flights to Saudi Arabia for the thousands of people desperately waiting to go to their workplaces in the Gulf country.

For the last two days, migrant worker Jahed Hasan has bene trying to confirm his return ticket to Saudi Arabia from a Saudi Airlines office in the capital.

A group of 170 Bangladeshis is expected to be repatriated from war-torn Libya in a chartered flight today.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is waiting for the response from the Saudi Arabia authorities to operate flights in the Gulf country as international flight operations between the two countries are expected to resume soon.