61 Malaysia-bound passengers skip flight at Dhaka Airport

Dhaka: A total of 61 passengers who had already completed check-in for a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight to Malaysia did not board the aircraft after authorities intensified scrutiny of travel documents and detected multiple cases of suspected visa irregularities.

The incident took place on July 4 at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital before Biman flight BG-386 departed for Kuala Lumpur at 8:50 pm.

According to Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the flight had 262 booked passengers along with one infant. During pre-departure checks, immigration officials prevented 10 passengers from travelling, while Biman's Passenger Control Unit (PCU) stopped another five at the boarding gate after identifying fake or altered Malaysian visas.

Biman spokesperson Boshra Islam said, the flight ultimately departed with 192 passengers and one infant on board.

She added that although 61 other passengers had completed the check-in process and received boarding passes, they did not arrive at the boarding gate and were recorded as no-shows.

Airport sources said, many of those passengers are believed to have left the airport after becoming aware of the heightened inspection of travel documents following the detection of forged or tampered visas.

In total, 76 passengers who were scheduled to travel to Malaysia on tourist visas did not make the journey. Authorities are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.