593 overseas flights cancelled at Dhaka, Ctg airports

A total of 593 international flights have been cancelled at two major airports in Bangladesh over the past 15 days due to the ongoing security crisis and airspace restrictions in several Middle Eastern countries.s

Of the total, 24 flights were cancelled on Saturday at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, while seven international flights were cancelled the same day at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, according to airport authorities.

Officials said the disruption began on February 28 after a number of Middle Eastern countries-including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan-closed or restricted their airspace amid heightened regional tensions.

At Dhaka airport alone, 477 flights have been cancelled between February 28 and March 14, affecting multiple airlines operating on routes to key Gulf destinations.

On Saturday, the cancelled flights from Dhaka involved several foreign carriers operating services to Gulf hubs.

These included flights of Kuwait Airways, Air Arabia, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Jazeera Airways, and flydubai, most of which operate flights between Dhaka and cities such as Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Meanwhile, airport authorities in Chattogram said a total of 116 international flights have been cancelled at Shah Amanat airport since February 28 due to the same regional crisis.

Seven flights including of Biman Bangladesh, US-Bangla, and SalamAir were cancelled on Saturday.

Despite disruptions, operations of some flights continued at the Chattogram airport, with six arriving from the Middle East and four departing on Saturday.

Airport officials said flight operations on some routes, particularly between Chattogram and Sharjah or Dubai, have started gradually returning to normal as conditions have improved.

saif.febd@gmail.com