182 flights cancelled at Dhaka, Chattogram airports in 4 days of Middle East conflict

A total of 147 international flights at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and 35 flights at Chattogram's Shah Amanat International Airport have been cancelled over the last four days due to the onset of war in the Middle East.

The two airport authorities confirmed the information in separate statements on Tuesday.

A fresh conflict erupted in the Middle East after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran on Feb 28. In retaliation, Iran began missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US installations in various Middle Eastern countries.

As a result, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan closed their airspace on Feb 28. The situation has disrupted flight operations between Bangladesh and Middle Eastern countries.

At Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, 23 flights were cancelled on Saturday, 40 on Sunday and 46 on Monday.

On Tuesday, the airport authority said 38 scheduled flights had been cancelled.

These include four flights each of Qatar Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air and flydubai, two flights of Kuwait Airways, four flights of Jazeera Airways, 12 flights of Air Arabia, and four flights of US-Bangla Airlines.

Meanwhile, a total of 35 international flights were cancelled at Shah Amanat International Airport over the four days, including seven flights scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Among them, one flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, two flights of US-Bangla Airlines and four flights of Air Arabia were cancelled.

However, a flight of SalamAir from Muscat landed in Chattogram on Tuesday morning and later departed for Muscat with passengers.

Similarly, a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight arriving from Madinah landed at Shah Amanat in the morning before departing for Dhaka.