The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has cancelled all scheduled international commercial flights till May 30, considering the persistent risk of Covid-19 and to avoid further spread of the virus.

The suspension order will be effective from May 17, according to a press release issued by the aviation authority on Thursday.

All flights to or from Bahrain, Bhutan, Hongkong, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, UAE and the UK shall not be allowed to land at any airport in Bangladesh, reads the press release.

Foreign nationals having valid visas will be required to produce a medical certificate (with English translation) to be obtained within 72 hours of travel, indicating that they do not have coronavirus.

The individual needs to submit these certificates on arrival at the entry point in Bangladesh.

If any Bangladesh origin passenger possesses an NVR and came to Bangladesh without the required Covid-19 negative certificate, they would be institutionally quarantined for 14 days.

However, the cargo flights, emergency landings, technical stops (without crew rest), medical evacuation, special flight operations, relief or humanitarian assistance, and citizen evacuation will remain out of the purview of this flight ban.

Any condition and instruction in regard to air travel imposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall also be applicable.