Bangladesh's Assistant High Commission in Manchester on Saturday evening announced the resumption of Biman Bangladesh Airlines' Dhaka-Sylhet-Manchester service after a four-month suspension, restoring a key air link for the UK's large Bangladeshi diaspora.

The resumption was marked by a brief ceremony at Manchester Airport attended by Bangladesh's Assistant High Commissioner in Manchester, Biman's Deputy Managing Director, and other airline officials, the flight's pilots and cabin crew, as well as a representative of Manchester Airport.

Initially, the national flag carrier will operate two weekly flights on the route every Tuesday and Saturday, connecting Dhaka and Manchester via Sylhet using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

The route had been suspended on March 1 to allow Biman to redeploy its limited wide-body aircraft for Hajj operations. At the time, the airline said operating the Manchester service independently was not commercially viable, as its Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft were also needed to serve European, Hajj, and Middle Eastern destinations.

During the suspension, Biman increased flight frequencies on its London Heathrow route and offered Manchester-bound passengers the option of free ticket refunds or rebooking.

The Dhaka-Sylhet-Manchester route is particularly important for the Bangladeshi community in the United Kingdom, a significant proportion of whom have family roots in the Sylhet region. The restoration of the service is expected to ease travel for expatriate families and strengthen people-to-people links between Bangladesh and the UK.