Saddam Hossain, a resident of Cumilla, has worked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for 10 years. He returned to Bangladesh on holiday and was due to fly back on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on 22 October.
However, his plans were thrown into disarray after attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport last Saturday and Sunday prompted flight suspensions on routes from Dhaka to Riyadh and Dammam.
With Saudi Arabia facing a situation resembling war, flights from Dhaka to the kingdom have been severely disrupted. It remains uncertain when services on the two routes will resume.
The ongoing Iran war and attacks by Houthi rebels in Saudi Arabia have so far killed 14 Bangladeshi expatriates.
On 4 October, Sajib Hossain of Cumilla was killed in a Houthi attack on an Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia’s Al Khurais area. Another attack on King Khalid International Airport on 10 October killed Shahed Ahmed of Bogura and Nasrullah Badarpuri of Cumilla.
Despite the danger, Saddam is unwilling to remain in Bangladesh, fearing that any delay could cost him his job. He must report for duty in Riyadh two days after his scheduled return.
“I don’t understand all this war business. Whether flights are operating or not, I have no alternative but to reach my workplace,” he said.
Speaking to TIMES on Wednesday outside the sales centre at Biman’s headquarters in Kurmitola, Saddam appeared disappointed after failing to secure a replacement ticket.
Without one, his return remains uncertain.
“I must return by 22 October. Biman says that since my flight has not yet been cancelled, they cannot issue me a ticket through an alternative route right now. The sales counter has asked me to contact them after 17 October. But instead of just contacting them on 17 October, I will come directly to the Biman office because I am the one who needs to travel. My entire family depends on my income. If I cannot return, I will lose my job,” he said.
Standing beside him was Nazrul Islam, another Cumilla resident who has worked in Riyadh for 15 years. He, too, had come to Biman’s office seeking an alternative route to Saudi Arabia.
“If I cannot travel through Riyadh, I will go via Madinah. Otherwise, I will fly to Jeddah and travel to Riyadh by road. It will cost a lot of money and take much longer. But I must get back to Saudi Arabia to save my job,” Nazrul said.
Their predicament reflects the uncertainty facing thousands of Saudi-based Bangladeshi workers stranded in Dhaka and desperate to return to their workplaces.
By 6:45pm on Wednesday, 100 flights on various Saudi-bound routes had been cancelled, leaving 15,393 passengers stranded in Dhaka, most of them Bangladeshi expatriate workers.
Following the suspension of flights to Dammam after Riyadh, Biman began rerouting stranded passengers through Madinah and Jeddah on the instructions of Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashiduzzaman Millat.
Passengers whose visas are nearing expiry are being given priority.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines General Manager (Public Relations) Shahnoor Ahmad told TIMES that the airline had made arrangements for passengers whose visas were nearing expiry to travel through Jeddah and Madinah in urgent cases.
He said affected passengers had been advised to contact their nearest Biman sales centre for tickets and other travel information.
US-Bangla Airlines General Manager (Public Relations) Kamrul Islam told TIMES that Jeddah was the airline’s only alternative Saudi destination to Riyadh.
Passengers needing to travel urgently are being accommodated on Jeddah-bound flights, subject to seat availability, he said.
