Flight Report : Dhaka - Hong Kong

Bangladesh Flag

Short red-eyes are quite painful, especially in Economy Class and when civil disobedience spikes at night. The drive to the airport was smooth. I suppose the residents wouldn't want to get caught up in the daily petro bomb attacks after sun-down. But the enhanced police presence along the way was a bit unnerving.

The airport was quite empty at this hour, and the immigration officers didn't seem willing to roll up to get my passport.

The airport is very basic and I walked around to photograph the barrenness and preliminary attempts to modernize. I give them credit for wanting to try. >

They were quite thoughtful to have placed information boards in the shopping area noting the boarding gate.

There were 2 stores selling these types of snacks, which have some resemblance to what I have seen in India. I recall they were really sweet. But by this late in the day, I didn't want dessert anymore.

Bangladesh is a Muslim country so alcohol is a no-no.

At one empty corner of the terminal, the mosquitoes were rife and signs of ancient history were rampant.

The old bathroom is absolutely nasty. Walk to the next one down the corridor and you emerge in a mini-paradise.

Very small parts of the terminal have been renovated and look quite nice. I wonder when will the rest get the same treatment?

Biman's planes are not easily spottable around the world, so I was quite delighted to see them parked here.

Seats are located past the boarding pass check and you are trapped inside. so I waited until I was sure it would be a straight walk onto the plane. The crew greeted passengers with a mosquito racket to ensure a bite-free journey ahead.

This flight is actually a tag-on from Kathmandu, so timeliness is dependent on whether the plane arrives on-time from Nepal. We departed slightly earlier than schedule tonight just before 2am. The crew did a good job keeping the mosquitoes in the terminal. It would have been nice to spot some of these rare birds on a day-time departure. I wonder if all international flights leave late at night?

I wasn't supposed to eat so late, but it wasn't a big meal anyway. It is a short 3.5-hour flight, so I wasn't expecting much sleep tonight. Sunrise above the clouds was nice though.

We landed just past 7am to see Scoot's 787 departing. I can't imagine how early you need to wake up to get to the airport by taxi for your cheap flight.

Despite the red-eye timing, I was quite happy to fly on a widebody with new seats and PTVs. Dhaka's airport is quite painful to use, with the most mosquitoes I have seen in any building during my brief visit to the country. There isn't much to do but to wander around the few shops and watch TV once past immigration, so don't sweat and get to the airport so early. Put on lots of bug repellant and keep an eye on those blood-suckers. Once on board, I was far more relaxed to get as much rest as possible even though I would be sleeping at home for much of the morning after.

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