Flight services between Calcutta and Dhaka resumed late on Monday after the airport in the Bangladesh capital reopened following a closure of around six hours.
Calcutta airport officials said a US-Bangla flight landed in the city from Dhaka at 11.37pm on Monday.
On Tuesday, six flights departed from Calcutta for Dhaka and five arrived. The officials said 268 passengers came from Bangladesh while nearly 240 passengers went from Calcutta to the trouble-torn country.
“Almost all flights operated a few minutes delayed, compared to the huge delays in the last few days,” said an airport official.
Dhaka airport was closed between 4.45pm and 10.30pm Indian Standard Time on Monday.
As flight operations resumed, many who had landed in the city said they were worried about their family members in Bangladesh.
Those flying to Dhaka said they were unsure whether the commute back home would be safe.
Mohammad Amin Hasan who lives in Demra around 29km from the Dhaka airport said he started from his house at 4.30am (Bangladesh time) even though he was booked on a flight that had a scheduled take-off time at 12.40pm (Bangladesh time).
“The situation in Bangladesh is volatile, to say the least. I did not want to come here leaving my wife and two daughters back home. However, I had no choice but to be here for a business meeting,” said Hasan who runs a wholesale unit for leather and faux leather items.
A Jaipur resident, who works for a multinational garment manufacturing unit in Bangladesh, said he has never seen the country like this.
“I have been working in Bangladesh for a long time. I have never seen anything like this. In Dhaka there were scenes of destruction at every major intersection,” he said while asking not to be named as he is scheduled to return to Bangladesh.
Mohammed Kamrul Islam who was booked on a flight to Dhaka said the videos circulating on the Internet were “extremely disturbing”.
“Even though I am going to my country, I am apprehensive of how things will shape up. I still cannot believe that they hung bodies off a bridge and vandalised statues of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” said Islam who owns a shoe shop in Fulbari supermarket.