The air bubble flights between Bangladesh and India are likely to be resumed Saturday, instead of Friday, before the restart of scheduled international passenger flights, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). The proposal of resumption of air bubble flights with seven frequencies has been accepted. However, a proposal of allocation of 10 frequencies is in place for consideration. Irrespective of the Covid-19 vaccination, any passenger travelling from India will have to complete a 14-day strict home quarantine. All other related provisions, including the requirement of mandatory RT-PCR test, would apply to such passengers as mentioned in Air Transportation Circular issued on August 16, which may be amended from time to time. Read: Bangladesh-India air bubble flights likely to resume Sept 3 However, the carriage of passengers can be restricted to 90% of the total seating capacity of the aircraft used. In addition to the requirement to the category of passengers, suggested in its previous letter issued on August 4, CAAB proposed including "passengers with business visa" – namely to help airlines crew to travel to India for simulator training. On August 28, the Indian civil aviation ministry said in a statement that flight operations between the two countries may resume from September 3 under the air bubble agreement.

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. Read:Two Biman chartered flights take off with stuck students, expat workers 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. Read: Domestic flights to resume from Aug 6 amid relaxed lockdown 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. Read: Domestic flights to carry intl passengers to port of departure during lockdown 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.