Govt Suspends Flight Operation with Nepal

The Bangladesh government has suspended flights with Nepal to tackle coronavirus spread.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said on Sunday that Nepal has been added to the list of "Group-A countries" from where no incoming or outgoing passengers will be allowed in the country.

The decision will come into effect from Monday (10 May) and will continue until further notice in order to reduce the risk of further spread of Covid-19, according to the circular issued by CAAB.

The Group-A countries are- India, Nepal, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Tunisia, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Georgia, and Mongolia.

In a press release, CAAB said that only Bangladeshi expatriates/citizens who visited (not residing) the countries in the last 15 days of travel to Bangladesh are allowed to travel to Dhaka provided that they have special approval/authorization from the competent authority of Bangladesh.

However, upon arrival, they will have to complete a mandatory 14-day institutional quarantine at government-nominated hotels at the passenger's own expenses.  Besides, proof of Hotel Booking shall be produced during check-in, which should be verified by the airlines representatives before issuing a boarding pass.

The 28 countries in Group- B are- Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Kuwait, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay.

The passengers arriving from these countries will have to complete a mandatory 14-days institutional quarantine at government-nominated hotels at their own expenses.

Passengers from All countries except in Group-A and Group-B are required to strictly observe home quarantine for 14 days, subject to a PCR negative certificate.

As an exception, 3 countries in the Middle East (Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait) will follow the current 3-day institutional quarantine management, despite being on the list of risky countries.

The remaining 11 days will be considered for home quarantine or isolation based on the results of the subsequent health examination.