Saudi Arabian Airlines was fined Tk 200,000 for carrying passengers to Dhaka without Covid-19 negative certificates.
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Director (Security) Group Captain AHM Towhid-ul-Ahsan said an executive magistrate of a mobile court fined the airline.
A physician of Airport Health Desk said that a flight of Saudi Airlines with 254 passengers came from Riyadh at 7:40pm on Tuesday but none of them had Covid-19 negative certificate.
Another fight of Saudi Airlines brought another passenger without the negative certificate on Monday, he said.
Earlier on December 13, Malaysia-based airline Air Asia was also fined Tk 100,000 for bringing a Covid-19 positive passenger at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
The government has decided to suspend the flight operation of airlines that will carry passengers without Covid-19 negative certificates as part of its initiative to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman told UNB that they have asked all airlines to refrain from carrying Covid-19 patients but six coronavirus patients were found boarding the Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Biman has been fined Tk 30,000 (Tk 5,000 for each passenger). Besides, Air Asia has been fined Tk 1 lakh, he said.
“We’re slapping small fines but have taken tough decisions. If any airline is found carrying Covid-19 patients, the flight operation will be suspended for a day or two or a week or for an even longer period,” the CAAB Chairman said.
Mobile court drives are being conducted at the airport and each passenger is being checked. Nobody is being allowed in the country without having Covid-19 negative certificates, he said.
