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A see-off drags on

Biman flight chaos continues

Md Fazlur Rahman
Two weeks into a flight schedule disorder, passengers of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, bound for Middle Eastern and East Asian countries, continue to face delays.
The national flag carrier has been struggling to ferry its passengers to their destinations in time amid a shortage of aircraft as it has concentrated all its efforts on flying hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
The number of stranded passengers has now come down to some 1,200, Biman officials said, adding that they hoped they would be able to clear the backlog in the next three days at best.
A DC-10 joined the fleet, which would start flying from today, said Mohammad Shahnewaz, director of the airlines, sales and marketing. A new Boeing-767 will also join the carrier today, with immediate flying plans.
Nearly 5,000 passengers have experienced delays in their flight schedules since the chaotic situation began on September 10. In contravention of international practice, they were not given accommodation and food, which caused financial pressure for them.
Nasrin Akhter, a 45-year-old housewife, came from Narail to the Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Saturday in the hope that she could see her
SEE PAGE 19 COL 4 FROM PAGE 20 husband off a day later and return home on the same day.
But the airline kept them waiting.
This was the second time her husband Golam Mostafa, 52, had come to the airport along with her, a mother of two.
Mostafa was supposed to leave the country for Saudi Arabia on September 16. As Biman failed to honour his flight schedule, they spent the night at the airport and then the following two nights at a small hotel nearby before returning home on September 19.
They came back on September 22 to avoid the nationwide hartal, enforced by clutch of Islamist parties in protest at an anti-Islam film the following day. Since then they have been staying at the airport and eating at adjacent hotels.
The two seemed to get fidgety while passing their time, sitting on trolleys and often falling asleep on them.
Mostafa was given a flight schedule yesterday at 12:00noon, which was again deferred to 8:00pm. Talking to The Daily Star last night, he said his schedule was again cancelled.
Taizul Islam, 35, said he was supposed to leave for Saudi Arabia on September 20 but the flight was rescheduled for yesterday.
"I have to reach the country by the next three days to save my job," he said.
He had spent thousands of taka to come from Munshiganj to the airport, go back home on September 20 and then return to Dhaka yesterday.
"Still, I am not sure whether I will be able to fly today [yesterday]," Taizul said.
Mohammad Jashim, a 27-year-old from Comilla, who works at a fast-food shop in Saudi Arabia, echoed Taizul.
He said he had spent an additional Tk 5,000 after Biman officials told him on September 20 that he had to come back four days later.
People do not usually carry extra local currency when they come to the airport to leave the country, said a frustrated Jashim.
"Not everyone has relatives in the capital. How can one stay here without any money?"
The airline's decision to carry hajj pilgrims beyond its capacity led to the flight schedule disorder and the suspension of its domestic operations, sources in the airline said.
The departure of a leasehold airplane 10 days before its schedule added to the crisis, said Khan Mosharraf Hossain, general manager of Biman, yesterday at a statement.
The airline ferried about 14,000 pilgrims to Jeddah till yesterday and will carry a total of 56,500 pilgrims, the statement says.