Passengers stuck as flights grounded

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at the Dhaka airport yesterday after flights were grounded due to a glitch in a cyber security software widely used by airlines.

Some flights were also cancelled due to a low turnout of passengers.

Many of them could not reach the airport amid the ongoing countrywide violence.

Sources at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said 11 international flights were either delayed or cancelled in the last 24 hours till 6:00pm yesterday.

Many foreign airlines including, Saudia, Air Arabia, and Emirates cancelled the flights, said sources.

Saudi-bound passenger Rimon Mia went through a great ordeal to reach Dhaka from Barishal amid road blockades, lack of transportation, and violence on the streets.

However, upon reaching the airport, he was told that his flight was cancelled.

"My flight was scheduled for takeoff at 6:00am today [yesterday]. I was not informed about the cancellation. No one at the airport is telling me when is the next flight," he said.

"I don't know what to do now as my visa expires in two days," he said.

He added that he did not even have a place to stay in Dhaka as he had no relatives here in the capital.

Similarly, Salamat Sheikh, a Dubai-bound passenger, reached Dhaka from Cumilla by renting a car for Tk 10,000. After entering the airport, he was informed that his flight was cancelled.

Many other passengers shared similar ordeals.

"In the current situation, how will I go outside [out of the airport]? Who will give us security?" asked one Saudi-bound passenger, Mohammad Abir, who came from Narayanganj.

Meanwhile, many passengers failed to reach the airport on time due to the road and rail blockades.

Twelve Bangladeshi migrants who were supposed to fly to Brunei at 2:00am on Friday found out that there flight was cancelled due to a shortage of passengers.

"We arranged accommodation for the 12 Bangladeshi migrants," an official at the airport said.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan, however, said operations at the Dhaka airport were going on smoothly without any obstructions.

Air tickets would be counted as curfew pass for the passengers going to airports, the minister added.

Faruk said stern actions will be taken if any airlines increase fares taking advantage of the current situation.

On Friday, an enormous IT outage hit hard banks, grocery stores, TV networks, airlines and even emergency services across the world causing suffering to millions.

The problem occurred when cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike was conducting a software update of it's popular product Falcon Cybersecurity Software, said its CEO.