A total of 162 Bangladeshi citizens, stranded in India for over one-and-a-half months, returned home today afternoon aboard a special flight of US-Bangla Airlines.

"Carrying the passengers from Chennai, India, the chartered flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at around 3:00 pm," Group Captain AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan, director, HSIA, said.

With today's returnees, around 2,162 Bangladeshi nationals who were stuck in the neighbouring country due to suspension of scheduled passenger flights, returned the country so far, sources at HSIA said.

Most of the Bangladeshis stranded in India went there for medical treatment.

With today's evacuation flight, the Bangladesh government started the third phase of bringing back its citizens from India.

In the third phase, Biman and US-Bangla Airlines are scheduled to operate 10 special flights from India, the Bangladesh High Commission in India said in a press release on May 5.

The national airliner Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate five flights: one from Kolkata on May 10, from Mumbai on May 12, from Bengaluru on May 13, 15 and from Delhi on May 14. All flights are scheduled to take off at 2:30pm Indian time.

Apart from today's flight, US-Bangla Airlines will operate four more special flights -- all from Chennai on May 9, 10, 13 and 14, the Bangladesh High Commission said in a release.

https://www.thedailystar.net/online/news/162-bangladeshi-return-india-aboard-special-us-bangla-flight-1900699