Saudia fined Tk 2 lakh for carrying passengers to Dhaka without Covid-19 negative certificates

A mobile court at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport fined Saudi Arabian Airlines Tk two lakh for carrying passengers to Dhaka without Covid-19 negative certificates.

Ahmed Zamil, an executive magistrate at HSIA, fined the airlines on December 15.

Talking to The Daily Star, he said Saudia brought 516 Bangladeshi expatriate workers -- who were in different detention camps or jails -- in two special and one regular flights on December 14 and 15.

Of the total passengers, only three had Covid-19 negative certificates, added Zamil.

Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday said from now on any airline carrying passengers without Covid-19 negative certificates will have to face flight suspension penalty for different terms.

CAAB came up with the strict directive following a number of airlines bringing passengers in Dhaka without Covid-19 negative certificates in the recent weeks.

In some cases, several airlines also carried passengers despite having certificates saying they are Covid-19 positive.

An airline will face suspension for one schedule flight for the first mistake of carrying passengers without Covid-19 negative certificate or carrying Covid-19 positive passengers.

For the same mistake a second time, three schedule flights of the airline will be suspended and for the third mistake, flights will be suspended for one week. The airline's flight will also be suspended for at least four weeks in case of mistake for the fourth time.