Staff Reporter:
Civil Aviation operated a total of 12 special flights on the Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route and sent around 2,000 migrant workers by evening on Friday, the last day for sending the workers to Malaysia.
Some seven flights were initially scheduled to leave Dhaka airport with around 1,500 workers. Finally, 12 flights, including two special ones of Bangladesh Biman, took off for Kuala Lumpur with over 2,000 workers.
Biman came forward when thousands of desperate workers with their bags and baggages were sitting in front of the gate no 5 of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s Terminal 2.
They all had visas but no air tickets to reach the Southeast Asian country on the last day for foreign workers to go there. Their gloomy faces seemed confounded with uncertainties.
Some of them finally succeeded in flying as their recruiting agencies managed to procure air tickets after taking additional money from them. In contrast, for others, thei journey from home to the Dhaka airport, became a tale of broken promises and shattered dreams.
The special flights were arranged the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare sent a letter, Biman airlines said in a press release signed by Md. Al Masud Khan, manager of public relations.
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) representatives were tasked with providing the list of passengers and necessary documents to the Biman sales office in Motijheel under the supervision of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare.
The tickets could be purchased in cash.
Considering the inconvenience of the passengers, Biman Bangladesh Airlines fixed the ticket price at Tk 73,616 per person.
