Biman’s 3 flights delayed for 40 hours: Passengers stranded at ZIA without food, shelter

At least three flights of national flag carriers Bangladesh Biman made delays for over 40 hours in its schedules Saturday causing untold sufferings to its passengers, sources said.

Hundreds of passengers remained stranded at the Zia International Airport (ZIA) without food and shelter.

Shortly after the decision to axe the number of Biman employees, this was the major disruption in the flight schedule.

Officials of the Bangladesh Biman at ZIA said that Biman’s flight BG-027 bound for Abu Dhabi made delay for about 20 hours, BG-047 bound for Dubai for about 10 hours and BG-047 (Delta) bound for Dubai via Chittagong for over 10 hours.

According to the traffic department sources of the Biman, Abu Dhabi bound flight BG-027 was scheduled to leave ZIA at 4.45 am (Saturday) and its rescheduled time was fixed at 11.30 pm Saturday.

Accordingly, Dubai bound BG-047 flight was scheduled to leave the ZIA at 1 pm and the deferred time was fixed at 10.30 pm.

Besides, Dubai bound (via Chittagong) another flight was scheduled to leave the ZIA at 10.30 am and the deferred time was fixed at 7.30 pm.

Shahidul Islam, ground officer of Biman’s traffic department, told The New Nation, “The departing schedule of BG-047 flight bound for Dubai was delayed due to its technical faults. The flight was sent to the hanger for checking.”

He added that the flight was delayed due to late arrival from Kathmandu.

Another Biman official Mohammad Faruk said that the flights made delays due to different causes and technical fault was one of those reasons.

Seeking anonymity, another Biman official explained the causes of breakdown of the flight schedules saying that the flight schedules were not fixed considering the weather and season change.

On the other hand, due to the flight delays, hundreds of passengers had to stay at the airport for hours in the untold miseries. They had to stay at the airport without food and other facilities.

The Bangladesh Biman decided to ask 1,300 of its officials and employees immediately to go on voluntary retirement through golden handshake.

Through the move, Biman’s workforce will be cut down to 3,400 from the existing 4,700.