Private Bangladeshi carrier NovoAir (VQ, Dhaka) will resume scheduled domestic operations from June, after being largely grounded from late March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NovoAir on May 28 said it will resume scheduled flights from June 1. Mofizur Rahman, the airline’s managing director, said flights would be disinfected daily and he looked forward to welcoming passengers again.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) banned almost all international flights from March 21 due to the coronavirus pandemic, affecting Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka), Regent Airways (Dhaka), US-Bangla Airlines (BS, Dhaka), and NovoAir. However, chartered flights, cargo flights, and air ambulance flights were allowed to continue as well as selected international routes.
With the resumption of scheduled flights in June, NovoAir will initially commence operations between Dhaka and Chittagong, Sylhet and Saidpur, the Bangladesh Monitor reported. Flights to other airports in Cox's Bazar, Barisal, Rajshahi and Jessore will follow soon, the airline in a statement. It will also fly two repatriation flights on the Kolkata-Dhaka route on May 29 and 31.
Scheduled domestic flights will be operational from June 1 while international flights will remain suspended until June 15, CAAB spokesman Mohammad Sohel Kamruzzaman told bdnews24.com.
Elsewhere, US-Bangla Airlines said it will resume flights from June 1 from Dhaka to Chittagong, Sylhet and Saidpur, with other destinations to follow at a later date, reports the United News of Bangladesh. State-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines in a statement on May 28 said it will fly three domestic routes from June 1, between Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Saidpur.