With increased demand for Saudi visa, flights and their return tickets Saudi authorities are being forced to allow more flights to and from Dhaka.

The measure was taken after the stranded Bangladeshi expatriates succeeded in managing visa extension on their own to return to various destinations in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Bangladesh national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines was yet to allow operating commercial flights to and from Dhaka but was allowed 10 chartered special flights weekly.

The executives of Saudia, the national airline of Saudi Arabia, also said they could have ferried more passengers if the restriction was relaxed for them as they were set to distribute token to collect return tickets to KSA.

The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh allowed the international operation of commercial flights to and from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on a limited scale from June 16 asking them to maintain the health protocols amid the spiralling cases of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

On September 27, the CAAB, in an instruction with effect from October 1, until further notice, made public that all the international passenger flights that operated to and from Bangladesh would carry not more than 260 passengers for wide-body and 140 passengers for narrow-body aircraft.

It also said that the vacant seat shall include at least the last row of economy and minimum one seat of business classes dedicatedly for any suspected COVID-19 positive passengers.

‘We cannot relax our instructions only for an airline operator as we introduced it to ensure the safety of the passengers,’ said the CAAB chairman, Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman.

Biman is following the same restriction, he added.

The CAAB officials said that the Bangladesh ambassador in KSA had requested whether the restriction could be relaxed on this route only amid the shortage of return tickets for about 60,000 Saudi-bound stranded passengers.

‘Instead, we advised Saudia to increase their flights to Bangladesh to ease the situation,’ said the CAAB chair.

He said Saudia was allowed four more weekly flights from Dhaka to their existing four weekly commercial flights.

The CAAB officials said Biman Bangladesh Airlines, however, was not allowed to operate commercial flights in reciprocation, instead was allowed only to operate chartered flights.

Saudia airlines manager (sales) ZahidulAbedin said they were carrying 260 passengers on each flight keeping 140 seats empty while leaving Dhaka.

He said that they so far distributed 4,700 coupons among the stranded passengers from their office in Karwan Bazar and of them over 4,200 already got their return tickets.

Zahidul said that they would start distributing coupons to the stranded Bangladeshis from today again but there might be pa possibility of a break in the issuance of token due to rush and trouble over distribution.

As Saudia announced that it would distribute coupons between 8:00am and 11:00am on Sunday to confirm the return tickets, the stranded passengers started gathering outside of the airline’s office in Kawranbazar from Saturday with their passport, tickets and visa.

Mizanur Rahman was one of them  and was seen waiting at Karwan Bazar as he managed his visa from his KSA employer, where he has been working over for the last three years until he arrived in Dhaka on February 10 on leave.

He said he arrived in Dhaka from Jashore on September 29 for the coupon to confirm his ticket but failed. ‘I am waiting for coupon now,’ he said.

Another expatriate named Anisur Rahman of Chuadanga, was seen waiting in Karwan Bazar so that he did not miss the chance to obtain a ticket.

Saudia estimated that at least 30,000 stranded Bangladeshis needed to be ferried from Dhaka in the coming weeks while Biman said that it had over 20,000 passengers waiting.