Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, on Monday resumed its Dhaka flight after four years as the inaugural flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the morning with 80 per cent passenger on board.
Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner to Bahrain Mehdi Jaffar and 12 airline crews were along the passengers that arrived in Dhaka with the flight.
To celebrate its flight resumption, Gulf Air organised an event at Balaka lounge at the HSIA. The airline will operate five flights a week, said a press release.
Wing Commander Chowdhury Md. Zia-Ul Kabir, Director, Flight Safety and Regulations, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh; Md. Atique Sobhan, Director, Customer Services (Actg), Biman Bangladesh Airlines; Mehdi Jaffar, Deputy High Commissioner, Bangladesh Embassy in Bahrain and Group Captain MK Zakir Hassan, Director, Airport were present at the event as special guests.
Hussain Ghuloom, Country Manager and Jassim Ghareeb, Airport Manager of Gulf Air, were present on behalf of Gulf Air as the organiser of the event.
More than 1.5 lakh Bangladeshis are working in Bahrain right now. The diasporas has been facing difficulties while they travel from Dhaka to Bahrain as there was no direct flight. Upon a bilateral agreement between the Bangladesh and Bahrain Government, Bahrain has decided to restart its flight operation in Bangladesh.
Bahrain has started operating the flight since 1984, which came to an end in 2012.
Gulf Air also signed a long term agreement with Hotel Le Meridian Dhaka on Tuesday.
Under the agreement, all the crew members and other officials of Gulf Air will reside at the hotel during their stay in Bangladesh.
The guests were welcomed at the hotel by Ashwani Nayar, General Manager, and Anowar Hossain, Director, Sales and Marketing of Hotel Le Meridian.