Hundreds of luggage trolleys stood untouched, departure gates were deserted, and the usual suffocating traffic snarls had vanished.
At Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday, the eerily quiet atmosphere told the story of a deepening aviation crisis triggered by the sudden suspension of flights to Saudi Arabia.
The airport, normally bustling with thousands of outgoing migrant workers and emotional family members, has seen its crowds thin dramatically. The collapse in passenger numbers follows the closure of crucial Riyadh and Dammam routes in the wake of the Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on 10 October.
A total of 118 flights to Saudi Arabia were cancelled up to 6:30pm on Sunday due to suspended air routes, leaving 18,362 passengers stranded in the capital.
The grounded services comprised 52 direct flights and 66 connecting transit flights.
Official figures indicate that a significant proportion of those affected are Bangladeshi expatriate workers attempting to return to their jobs in the Kingdom.
Silence over the terminals
An inspection of the airport on Sunday revealed an unusually quiet scene across Terminals 1 and 2.
Normally, Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and Ansar personnel struggle around the clock to manage the dense crowds of departing travellers and well-wishers.
This time, there were simply no crowds to direct.
At entrances 1 to 6, where passengers typically compete for luggage trolleys, hundreds of metal carts stood in neat, pristine lines, untouched for hours. The departure halls were virtually empty as flight cancellations mounted.
The stillness extended to Canopies 1 and 2, where families usually assemble to greet incoming arrivals. On any ordinary day, incoming vehicles from Dhaka and surrounding districts overflow into every inch of parking space; on Sunday, even these notoriously chaotic spots appeared completely deserted.
Desperate scramble for alternative routes
For Monir Hossain, a resident of Lakshmipur who has lived in Jeddah for 12 years, the scene was unprecedented.
Having passed through Shahjalal airport dozens of times over the past decade, he remarked that he had never seen so few passengers in the building.
Travellers booked on the suspended Riyadh and Dammam services are now enduring a desperate struggle to secure alternative seats into Jeddah or Madinah.
Monir considered himself amongst the fortunate few after successfully rebooking a seat on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight to Jeddah.
Others, however, have faced far more ordeal-filled journeys.
Shiplu Mia, from Kaliakair in Gazipur, has lived in the Saudi city of Hail for 10 years. Despite decade-long familiarity with Shahjalal’s usual bustle, he too expressed shock at the empty terminals.
Shiplu had originally booked a return ticket with Flydubai, only to be left stranded when the carrier suspended its services to Saudi Arabia. Although flydubai eventually arranged an alternative seat for him on Air Arabia, his route no longer offers a direct connection to Hail. Instead, he will land in Al Qassim and endure a grueling multi-hour road journey to reach his workplace, incurring additional expenses that his Saudi sponsor has agreed to reimburse.
Clear roads and empty halls
The ripple effect of the flight suspensions was evident well beyond the terminal walls. Airport Road, notoriously prone to severe traffic gridlock caused by vehicles carrying travellers to and from the airport, was unusually clear throughout the day.
With passenger arrivals and departures grinding to a near-halt, the familiar hubbub of Bangladesh’s primary international gateway has been replaced by rows of idle trolleys, silent terminal entrances, and vast, empty parking lots.
