Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh, Ramis Sen, has said that Bangladesh and Türkiye have strong and deep-rooted relations and they are committed to further enhance and diversify the bilateral relations in all fields. “We are aiming to further our bilateral trade volume, which is around USD 1.2 billion,” he said, adding that Turkish Airlines’ direct flights between Dhaka and Istanbul have been making great contributions to the promotion of the bilateral relations.  The Turkish ambassador was speaking at a reception marking the National Day of Turkey on Sunday night. Law Minister Anisul Huq also spoke at the reception as the chief guest. US for country-driven action, looking for innovative solutions to plastic pollution: Ambassador Haas In February 2024, the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. “I am also pleased that relations between our private companies have been improving and there have been some important joint investments,” said the ambassador. At the outset, the envoy expressed gratitude and respect to Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, his comrades-in-arms and the people who lost their lives during the Turkish War of Independence. “I wish Allah’s mercy upon them.” PM to hold press conference tomorrow on Belgium visit “On 6th of February, this year, my country experienced a devastating earthquake. I wish to pay my tribute to Turkish citizens who lost their lives during the earthquake. I wish Allah’s mercy upon them,” he said.

Turkey resumed its passenger flights with Bangladesh on Saturday, after nearly nine weeks of suspension. According to the Turkish Embassy in Dhaka, passengers will now be able to board the flights of Turkish Airlines and that of others to travel from Bangladesh to Turkey. The passengers travelling from Bangladesh will have to submit their negative PCR test results taken 72 hours before their arrival to Turkey. If people – travelling from Bangladesh or those who have been in the country for the last 14 days – can prove that they were vaccinated with a minimum of two doses of vaccines which have been granted emergency use authorisation by either the World Health Organisation (WHO) or Turkey (two doses of Sinovac, BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sinopharm; one dose of Johnson & Johnson) and 14 days have passed since the application of the last dose, will be exempted from quarantine during their entry into Turkey. Read: US-Bangla to resume flights on Dhaka-Chennai route from Sunday

Turkish Airlines on Tuesday cancelled its flights between Dhaka and Istanbul until July 15 considering the current Covid-19 situation.

After remaining shut for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) on Sunday permitted Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia to operate their flights in Dhaka from July 1.   Two more are waiting the authority’s nod, Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Mafidur Rahman told UNB.   “We have permitted Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia to transport passengers but Turkish Airlines will start flight from July 2 or 3 and Air Arabia from July 1,” he said.   “Besides, Malaysia and Malindo Air also applied for direct flights to Bangladesh. We may primarily give them transit permits but the decision is yet to be taken,” he added.   Earlier on June 21, Emirates was allowed to fly primarily three flights per week on the Dubai-Dhaka route and Qatar Airways got the approval from June 16, the Chairman said.   Emirates will transport passengers only on Dhaka-Dubai route as the entry of Bangladeshi citizens is currently blocked in UAE due to coronavirus pandemic, he said adding that but UAE nationals will be able to travel here.   “Although Bangladeshis are restricted to enter Doha and UAE but they can travel to other countries using transit flight,” he said adding that applications seeking entry permission of Bangladeshi citizens to Doha and UAE have been sent to their aviation authorities.   “We’ll consider the applications of airlines who would apply to operate flights in the country as the international flights have resumed since June 16 following health regulations at limited scale,” Rahman said.   Sources at CAAB said Emirates is operating flights every Saturday, Monday and Thursday from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.   EK584 flight will come from Dubai to Dhaka on Saturday, Monday and Thursday while EK584 flight will leave Dhaka for Dubai on those respective days, sources said.   Meanwhile, Biman Bangladesh Airline Managing Director and CEO Mokabbir Hossain said a single flight of Biman is flying on Dhaka-London-Dhaka route on Sundays every week.   The Biman flights are ready to travel to other routes after getting permission, he said.   CAAB Authorities allowed Biman to operate on Dhaka-London route from June 16 while Qatar Airways was only permitted for transit flight, he added.   On June 1, Civil Aviation authority permitted operation of all domestic flights maintaining social distancing and following health guidelines.   Airlines to count $84bn loss   On June 9, the IATA released a financial outlook for the global air transport industry showing that airlines are expected to lose $84.3 billion this year.   Revenues will fall 50 percent to $419 billion from $838 billion in 2019, IATA says.   In 2021, losses are expected to be cut to $15.8 billion as revenues rise to $598 billion.   “Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation,” IATA said in its report.   On average, every day of this year will add $230 million to industry losses. In total that’s a loss of $84.3 billion, IATA said.   “Based on an estimate of 2.2 billion passengers this year — airlines will lose $37.54 per passenger,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.