Dhaka: National flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines resumed its international flights yesterday after around three months.

The maiden flight -- a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner -- departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for London at 12:02pm with 187 passengers on board, Biman's Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) Tahera Khandaker told The Daily Star.

Passengers flying from Dhaka to London will not require a health certificate declaring that they are not infected with Covid-19, said Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman at the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

"But they will have to fill out a health declaration form as per the International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines," he said.

The CAAB chief also said all the London-bound passengers would have to stay in quarantine for 14 days as per the UK policy.

Biman sources said initially it would operate one flight a week on this route every Sunday.

Meanwhile, every passenger of yesterday's flight was provided a "care kit" -- a box containing a hand sanitizer, hand gloves and a face mask, said Tahera.

Besides, passengers were served dry meal instead of the usual dishes in line with the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization, she said.

Since the middle of February, Biman gradually suspended flight operations on all 18 international routes due to Covid-19 pandemic.

On March 30, Biman operated its last flight from London-Dhaka route.

On June 11, CAAB permitted Biman to operate flights on Dhaka-London-Dhaka.

It also permitted Qatar Airways to operate transit flights from June 16.

Four more foreign carriers -- Emirates, Fly Dubai, Air Arabia and Turkish Airlines -- have also sought permission from the CAAB to resume flights from Dhaka, the CAAB chairman told The Daily Star.

The CAAB has already permitted Emirates to operate transit flights from Dhaka and it will start operating three flights a week on Dubai-Dhaka-Dubai from June 21.

Emirates would operate one flight each on Saturday, Monday and Thursday, said CAAB sources.

Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia have also shown interest to start flight operation, the CAAB chief said, adding that they were discussing the issues.

"As flight operations on international routes from Bangladesh resumed on a limited scale on July 16, we'll consider allowing other airlines to operate flights if they seek permission," Mafidur said.

On June 1, Civil Aviation authority permitted operation of all domestic flights maintaining social distancing and following health guidelines.

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