Evening flights between Calcutta and Dhaka were disrupted after the airport in the Bangladesh capital was shut down from 4.45pm (IST) on Monday.
Till 9.30pm, the Calcutta airport had information that the Dhaka airport would be shut down till 10.30pm IST (11pm Bangladesh time).
Hundreds of passengers bound for Dhaka were stranded till late on Monday. Those who are booked on Tuesday’s flights are uncertain about their journey back home.
IndiGo announced the cancellation of its Calcutta-Dhaka-Calcutta flight on Tuesday.
Indigo posted on X on Monday: “#6ETravelAdvisory: In view of the ongoing situation in #Dhaka, all flights scheduled for tomorrow have unfortunately been cancelled. We understand that this may cause significant inconvenience and disruption to your travel plans and we sincerely regret this development.”
On Monday, the airline’s flight from Dhaka returned in the afternoon with only crew members.
“The ferry flight of IndiGo with seven crew members came to Calcutta in the afternoon. The airline’s flight from Chennai to Dhaka was diverted to Calcutta and after refuelling, it returned to Chennai on Monday afternoon,” said an official of the Calcutta airport.
The US Bangla flight that was scheduled to leave Calcutta for Dhaka at 6.30pm was delayed. The airline’s morning flight took off on schedule.
A US Bangla official said on Monday evening many passengers were calling them or visiting their city office to ask about the status of the flights.
Biman Bangladesh’s evening flight to Dhaka was to leave Calcutta at 8.45pm. “However, because of the closure of the Dhaka airport, the flight could not come. We are yet to receive any message from Dhaka about the rescheduled time,” an official of the airline said late on Monday evening.
The airline’s morning flight arrived in Calcutta at 8.45am, instead of 8am, the official said.
An official at the Calcutta airport told this newspaper around 11.30pm that the Dhaka airport had resumed operations. A US Bangla flight, he said, was scheduled to arrive around midnight and leave at 12.30am.
A Biman Bangladesh flight, the Calcutta airport official said, was scheduled to arrive at 1am and leave after half an hour.
Air India cancelled its flight between Delhi and Dhaka on Monday evening, said an airline official.
Anxiety and anticipation gripped passengers booked on flights to Dhaka as well as people who arrived at the Calcutta airport to receive their relatives from Bangladesh.
Dhaka resident Sanjida Ferdush, who works for an education consultancy and was in Calcutta for work, flew out on Monday afternoon. Her home is 15 minutes’ drive from the Dhaka airport but it took her more than an hour to cover the distance on Monday, she told this newspaper.
“We had to take multiple detours and wait as there were many rallies and gatherings,” said Ferdush.
Mohammed Rafi, a resident of Dhaka who had arrived in Calcutta on Friday with three family members, had initially booked bus tickets for the journey back home.
But as the bus services to Bangladesh were suspended, Rafi had to book flight tickets.
“We coughed up ₹34,200 for the flight tickets. But we just learned from the airline ticketing agent that no flights will go to Dhaka today,” Rafi said in front of the airport’s terminal building on Monday afternoon.
Four businessmen from Bangladesh who were booked on an evening flight to Dhaka were glued to a smartphone, watching video clips of Dhaka, in front of the airport terminal.
“We don’t know how we will manage as we only have ₹5,000 left,” said Mohammed Kamrul Islam.