The government is expecting to start PCR test for the outbound air passengers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka from tomorrow.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice-Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said this after inspecting the latest situation of the process of setting up PCR laboratories at HSIA on Sunday.

He said if it becomes successful and is declared safe, they will notify the airlines. “Hopefully, we will be able to begin operation from September 28 as every passenger has to face PCR test 48 hours in advance. We have to give the airlines at least two days to test the PCR for the passengers,” the CAAB chairman said.

Mafidur Rahman said that the Prime Minister directed them to begin the process as quickly as possible. And that is why they have sent 46 people to the Gulf State as test case which has become successful.

The CAAB chairman said, “We sent the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of six approved companies to the UAE authorities. They are yet to respond. I have talked with our ambassador to the UAE and officials concerned of the UAE authorities. We hope that the UAE authority will send their approval today.”

“Following their approval, when the DGHS will tell that our airport is ready and inform us about the number of test they can conduct at a time, we will notify the airlines to begin their procedure,” he said, adding that it will not take more than one or two days.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali, among others, was present during the briefing.

Group Captain Touhid-ul Ahsan, Executive Director of HSIA, said, “The work of setting up the laboratories inside the airport was completed on Saturday. The DGHS has formed two technical committees, which are monitoring the whole process.”

Earlier, samples from some 96 outbound passengers have been collected and tested at the airport as a part of experimental activities.