Biman flight stuck on minister's programme

Biman flight BG 668 that was scheduled to depart for Dhaka at 5:30pm was forced to wait until 8:00pm so that the minister, who was attending the launching ceremony of Surja LPG Plant near Mongla, could catch the plane.

Sources said Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman took the Biman flight BG 661 to Jessore at 12:30pm Wednesday as his originally scheduled 11:00am flight along with most other flights had been delayed due to fog.

The delay caused the minister's programmes in Jessore to be rescheduled so that the flight can leave for Dhaka on time.

A Biman source however said that Biman flight BG 668 was scheduled to reach Jessore at 4:30pm and return to Dhaka at 5:30pm. But the flight was delayed and reached Jessore at 6:15pm and as such the return flight was also delayed.

Nonetheless, the two-and-a-half hour delay was "a little more than normal", said the source.

He however said inefficient handling of passenger boarding by ground officials under the directorate of customer service usually cause such delay.