Bangladesh's civil aviation regulator has imposed restrictions on international passenger flights from 11 countries as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to devastate several countries across the world.
Malaysia, Iran, Spain, Argentina, Botswana, Cuba, Cyprus, Eswatini, Georgia, Libya and Mongolia are the 11 countries under Group- A, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has said.
However, Bangladeshi citizens from these countries who have completed a full dose of the Covid-19 vaccine before 14 days of the travel date can enter Bangladesh.
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Upon arrival, they will have to undergo a mandatory 14-days home quarantine.
However, if any Covid-19 symptoms are detected on arrival, they will be sent to government-authorised hospitals for further checkup and depending on the intensity of the symptoms, will be sent for isolation at government-nominated facilities at the passenger's own expense.
Besides, passengers from these 11 countries who are not vaccinated or have not completed full doses of the vaccine, will not be allowed to enter Bangladesh.
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However, Bangladeshi expatriates residing in these 11 countries and Bangladeshi nationals who visited there during the last 15 days, are allowed to come to Bangladesh provided that they have the special approval or authorisation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.
According to the CAAB circular, Bangladeshi seafarers or marine engineers who have signed off from ship from this group of 11 within the previous 15 days of travel to Bangladesh, can return provided they possess proper evidence about their profession and signing-off.
Upon arrival in the country, in both the cases above, they will have to complete a mandatory 14-day institutional quarantine at government-nominated hotels at their own expense.
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All incoming and outgoing passengers, except children below 10 years, must possess an RT-PCR negative certificate. The PCR test should be done within 72 hours of the flight departure time.
International passenger flights will continue as per their approved time slots under the summer-2021 schedule.
However, air bubble flights will remain suspended until further notice.