The UK government has fully withdrawn the two-year-long ban on direct cargo flights from Dhaka to London, as the British government is satisfied with the improvement of safety and security measures at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).

A police sub-inspector in uniform boarded a Bangkok-bound flight without any travel documents at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport early yesterday, said airport officials.

The UK government is likely to announce the withdrawal of the ban on Dhaka-London direct air cargo today.

Cargo vessel owners call off their strike following the government’s assurance of a fresh wage structure for the workers in the sector.

Bangladesh is expecting to pass the test for European security standards at the Dhaka airport in the upcoming audit, creating grounds for the withdrawal of the UK ban on direct air cargo from here to London.

False entries made by an airport screener on the list of checked goods and a casual smoke break taken by another one were the last straw for the UK monitoring team, leading to the temporary ban on Dhaka-London direct air cargo. The Daily Star learnt this from a report of the UK Department for Transport (DfT) and a reliable source in the British High Commission in Dhaka.

The government will sign a contract with a British security company by tomorrow for foolproof security screening at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday wrote back to her British counterpart David Cameron and requested a review of the ban on direct air cargo from Dhaka to London.

An UK expert team yesterday expressed their firm stance that they need “almost all” the security requirements met at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport within March 31.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to write back shortly to her British counterpart David Cameron and request him to withdraw the ban on direct air cargo from Dhaka to London.

Biman will lose business of around Tk 100 crore a year if the ban on direct cargo from Dhaka to the UK continued.