Saudi Expats Can Now Fly Home for Just 20,000 BDT

The interim government has launched a significant initiative to ensure affordable air travel for Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia. Under this new scheme, the fare for a one-way ticket on the Saudi Arabia-Bangladesh route has been set at just 20,500 BDT. This was confirmed in a message from the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing on Friday morning.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin stated that the government aims to sell 80,000 tickets by utilizing empty return slots of Hajj flights. This move is expected to generate an additional revenue of over 100 crore BDT for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The minimum one-way fare for Medina-Dhaka or Jeddah-Dhaka routes is 20,500 BDT, while return tickets are priced at 42,000 BDT.

This special fare will be effective for arrivals in Bangladesh from April 18 to May 25, 2026, and for return flights to Saudi Arabia from May 30 to June 30, 2026. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus thanked the ministry for this pro-expatriate move, while also cautioning that strict monitoring is essential to ensure the project’s success and prevent the failures seen in previous government initiatives.