16,000 Dhaka and Riyadh bound Biman passengers in complete disarray due to mismanagement and lack of proper planning by the national flag carrier.
Biman through a notification on Jul 5 informed the passengers that due to smooth Hajj operations, they suspended all the flights to Riyadh from Jul 14 to Aug 1.
However, it offered the passengers to avail Dammam to Dhaka flight.
Riyadh Biman regional office sources said, the national flag carrier has four scheduled flights to Saudi Arabia and out of them, at present three dedicated flights go to Jeddah and one to Dammam.
Riyadh passengers can avail the Dammam flight to go the Dhaka or come to Saudi Arabia, they said.
Due to this schedule mismatch, many passengers fear that they might not be able to travel.
Some Riyadh bound passengers allege that they might lose their jobs if they don’t reach their workplace in time while Dhaka bound passengers fear that it would be difficult for them to enjoy Eid vacation in the country.
A passenger said, “Hajj is a regular event and the government has been taking preparation for the last six or seven months.”
He wondered why Biman could not lease another carrier to provide service to Riyadh.
General Manager of Public Relation at Biman office in Dhaka Skakil Meraj said, we are negotiating with Mongolia, Malaysia and Angola to lease an aircraft.
We are trying to solve the problem as soon as possible, he said.