Emirates, flydubai and Etihad have cancelled flights to and from Bangladesh amid an international travel ban effective April 14 until at least April 20. Courtesy Emirates
Emirates, flydubai and Etihad have cancelled flights to and from Bangladesh amid an international travel ban effective April 14 until at least April 20. Courtesy Emirates
Emirates, flydubai and Etihad have cancelled flights to and from Bangladesh amid an international travel ban effective April 14 until at least April 20. Courtesy Emirates
Emirates, flydubai and Etihad have cancelled flights to and from Bangladesh amid an international travel ban effective April 14 until at least April 20. Courtesy Emirates

Covid-19: Emirates, Etihad and flydubai cancel flights to Bangladesh amid ban


Hayley Skirka
  • English
  • Arabic

International flights to and from Bangladesh are cancelled from Wednesday, according to the country's Civil Aviation Authority.

Domestic flights have also been temporarily halted as part of the ban that's been put in place amid a spike in Covid-19 case numbers in the South Asian country.

Overseas hauls will initially be suspended for one week, from Wednesday to April 20. During this time, cargo, repatriation and medical flights will continue to operate.

A general view of the Dhaka Motijheel commercial area during nationwide lockdown in Dhaka, Bangladesh. EPA
A general view of the Dhaka Motijheel commercial area during nationwide lockdown in Dhaka, Bangladesh. EPA

UAE airlines cancel services

Emirates will cancel flights to and from Dubai and Dhaka as of Wednesday. The last Emirates flight to operate before services are grounded will be EK 585, scheduled to depart Dhaka at 1.40am on Wednesday.

Emirates' website has been updated to reflect the change. "We regret the inconvenience caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agent or Emirates call centre for rebooking," it states.

Flydubai has also announced it is cancelling passenger flights. The low-cost airline is currently operating to both Dhaka and Chattogram.

"In line with the directives issued by the authorities, flydubai flights to Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport (CGP) and Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (DAC) have been cancelled from April 14 until April 20," a flydubai representative told The National.

"If a passenger’s flight has been cancelled, they will be offered a refund or the option to rebook to a later date."

Flydubai has cancelled flights between Dubai and Chattogram and Dhaka until at least April 20. Courtesy flydubai
Flydubai has cancelled flights between Dubai and Chattogram and Dhaka until at least April 20. Courtesy flydubai

Etihad, the national airline of the UAE, has also suspended flights between Bangladesh and Abu Dhabi. The airline's website states: "Due to an international travel ban introduced by the authorities of Bangladesh from April 14 to 20, 2021, you will be unable to travel to Bangladesh during this period."

The ban was announced after Bangladesh authorities imposed a nationwide seven-day lockdown as Covid-19 cases increased.

Chartered helicopter flights are also included in the ban, a move that looks set to impact hundreds of scheduled flights operated by several airlines around the world.

Any travellers arriving in Bangladesh at the moment must complete 14 days of institutional quarantine at their own expense.

The country has recorded 684,756 positive cases of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre. That's the 33rd highest number of cases in the world.

Last Wednesday, Bangladesh recorded a record high 7,626 cases in one day.

EA Sports FC 26

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Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S

Rating: 3/5

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Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
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TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

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Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)

Date started: August 2021

Founder: Nour Sabri

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace

Size: Two employees

Funding stage: Seed investment

Initial investment: $200,000

Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East) 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.

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According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.