Remove all confusion regarding flights to India

Statements made by the foreign minister and Biman on August 17 and 22, respectively, have led to another bout of confusion for air passengers wishing to travel to India from Bangladesh and vice versa. On August 17, the foreign minister said that flight operations to India will resume from August 20, but later he said his statement was not definitive, and what he meant to say was that flights between the two countries might resume at that time. However, following his earlier statement, Biman issued a press release saying that flights to Delhi and Kolkata will resume on August 22.

Despite these statements and the issuance of the press release, air travel between the two countries are still to start and, according to a report published by this newspaper on Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) is yet to receive a response from India about resuming flights after they, on August 4, sent a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India, seeking its approval for flight resumptions under the air bubble agreement. This means that all the previous statements were issued without the approval of the CAAB. After Biman's announcement, many passengers bought their tickets to India and those currently in India bought their tickets to return home. And these passengers are now stuck in limbo.

It is extremely unprofessional of Biman to have issued such a press release without verifying through official channels whether flights between India and Bangladesh were to resume and when. Just because the foreign minister issued a public statement does not give Biman a legitimate excuse for not following up with the CAAB for approval before going ahead and announcing its flight schedule to the public. This is the second time within a span of two weeks that Biman has placed its passengers in a difficult position. Earlier on August 10, a row between Biman and its online ticket sales partner led to all Biman ticket sales online being suspended. That led to untold sufferings for the public, who had to physically go and collect their tickets, risking themselves unnecessarily during a time of pandemic.

We expect much better from our national flag carrier. Such mismanagement on the part of Biman officials is nothing but humiliating. Biman should immediately offer an apology to all its passengers and, more importantly, try to help them sort out the inconvenience that it has caused. In the meantime, what is also essential for the authorities to do is to remove all confusion regarding the matter and focus on taking the necessary steps to resume flights.