KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Travel to and from Dhaka, less than an hour away from Kolkata by air, was grounded Monday after a six-hour airport shutdown triggered by the upheaval in the Bangladesh capital set the stage for a spate of cancellations by airlines and left flyers bracing for the long haul.
Indian Railways, too, extended the suspension of the popular Maitree Express, which hasn’t been operating for a fortnight, along with the other two passenger trains linking Bengal with its neighbour.By evening, the cancellation of overnight bus services cut off the only remaining mode of cross-border transport after an anxious day for anyone who was scheduled to travel between the two countries.
Air India and Vistara joined IndiGo in cancelling their flights to Dhaka from all Indian cities. An IndiGo flight from Dhaka to Kolkata (6E 1106) was allowed to take off around 5pm, apparently coinciding with the decision to shut the airport for safety reasons.
Trucks stranded on border, movement of goods affected
An IndiGo flight from Chennai to Dhaka with 81 passengers on board was diverted to Kolkata, where it refuelled before returning to base. A Biman Bangladesh flight and another operated by US-Bangla Airlines took off from Dhaka after the airport resumed flight ops after 10.30pm. Both will embark on the return journey after midnight, officials at Kolkata airport said.
“I was booked on the 8.45pm Biman Bangladesh flight to Dhaka, which didn’t take off. My visa ends on Wednesday and I hope to make it back home by then,” said Dhaka resident Shamim Sharif-Ullah.
Bangladesh citizen Mohammed Amirul Parvez, stranded at Kolkata airport said, “When I came to India, things were returning to normal. What happened today was something nobody could have imagined.” Kolkata airport’s director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said he got information about the closure of Dhaka airport at 4.46pm. Movement of goods through the Petrapole land port on the India-Bangladesh border was also suspended, leaving more than 250 trucks stranded on the Bangladesh side.
Indian Railways, too, extended the suspension of the popular Maitree Express, which hasn’t been operating for a fortnight, along with the other two passenger trains linking Bengal with its neighbour.By evening, the cancellation of overnight bus services cut off the only remaining mode of cross-border transport after an anxious day for anyone who was scheduled to travel between the two countries.
Air India and Vistara joined IndiGo in cancelling their flights to Dhaka from all Indian cities. An IndiGo flight from Dhaka to Kolkata (6E 1106) was allowed to take off around 5pm, apparently coinciding with the decision to shut the airport for safety reasons.
Trucks stranded on border, movement of goods affected
An IndiGo flight from Chennai to Dhaka with 81 passengers on board was diverted to Kolkata, where it refuelled before returning to base. A Biman Bangladesh flight and another operated by US-Bangla Airlines took off from Dhaka after the airport resumed flight ops after 10.30pm. Both will embark on the return journey after midnight, officials at Kolkata airport said.
“I was booked on the 8.45pm Biman Bangladesh flight to Dhaka, which didn’t take off. My visa ends on Wednesday and I hope to make it back home by then,” said Dhaka resident Shamim Sharif-Ullah.
Bangladesh citizen Mohammed Amirul Parvez, stranded at Kolkata airport said, “When I came to India, things were returning to normal. What happened today was something nobody could have imagined.” Kolkata airport’s director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said he got information about the closure of Dhaka airport at 4.46pm. Movement of goods through the Petrapole land port on the India-Bangladesh border was also suspended, leaving more than 250 trucks stranded on the Bangladesh side.