Thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis employed in the Middle East but currently stranded at home for months amid the coronavirus pandemic have been facing difficulties flying to their destinations due to limited access to air tickets.

They said they might face job-related complications and even their visas could expire if they fail to reach workplaces before the vacation ends.

Their families might face economic hardship if they cannot return to workplace on time, they feared.

Six Gulf Cooperation Council countries-- Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain-- are altogether home to about 76.93 percent of the country's more than one crore expatriate workers, according to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.

As regular air communications with most Arab countries remained suspended due to the pandemic, expatriate workers were trying for charter flights, which are limited in numbers.

The demand for international airlines tickets reached excessively high in recent time due to suspension of regular passenger flights and arrangement of low number of charter flights, said Monsur Ahmed Kalam, president of Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB).

He said demands for tickets to Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Oman could be about one lakh at present.

"Currently about 30,000 to 40,000 Bangladeshi expatriates have been waiting for tickets of UAE alone," he told this newspaper over phone.

The ATAB president said the authorities should immediately take steps to increase flight numbers to mitigate the crisis.

Jane Alam, an expatriate from UAE and resident of Chattogram's Patiya, told The Daily Star yesterday that his vacation will end on August 18 but he learnt that no airliners have available ticket for UAE this month.

"Now, I don't know how I will go back to my workplace within the scheduled time. If I can't, I'll have to undergo a lot of complications. My visa could be cancelled," he said.

Alam said he heard the construction firm he works for might reduce workers due to the pandemic. It might be those who will not join on time, he feared.

Another expatriate Nur Alam of Chattogram's Fatikchhari said he worked at a hotel in UAE for 21 years.

He booked a return ticket when he came home in January. But that flight got cancelled because of the pandemic.

"The airliner is not saying anything about what will be the fate of the ticket," he said, adding, he needed to go back to the UAE before August 20.

Contacted, Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman, said they are ready to operate more flights to different destinations including the Middle Eastern countries.

"However, the destination countries have to allow us to operate flights," she said. "We will be able to do so as soon as the embargo is lifted," she added.

Tahera said at present they are operating scheduled flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and London (once a week), and charter flights to different destinations including the Middle Eastern countries.

BIMAN FLIGHTS TO KL RESUME AUG 18

After five months of suspension, Biman is going to resume direct commercial flights on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route from August 18.

Biman flights will be operated from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesdays and Fridays, while the rebound flights from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka will be on Wednesdays and Saturdays, said a release of the national flag carrier yesterday.

The necessary conditions and information regarding air travel on the route are available on Biman website, it added.

Biman stopped its operations in Kuala Lumpur from March 18 due to the Malaysian government's decision to ban air travel with different countries, including Bangladesh, to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Biman official Tahera said they used to operate seven flights a week on the route before the pandemic. However, the number of flights will come down to two as Malaysia allowed so, she added.