Flights are once again nearly at full capacity, and the number of patients visiting private hospitals in the city is on the rise. However, there are concerns that this appearance of normalcy may be temporary. The recent outbreak of violence in Bangladesh could discourage individuals from travelling to Calcutta for business or medical treatment.

Airlines and hospital officials fear that additional travel restrictions may be imposed.

The number of air passengers and patients visiting Calcutta’s private hospitals for treatment started rising since October this year. The numbers had been low since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024.

However, the riots that have started in Dhaka and other places in the country have made travel between Calcutta and Bangladesh uncertain again, said officials.

US-Bangla Airlines earlier had three daily flights between Calcutta and Dhaka. Now, the airline has three flights a week. “However, the passenger load has increased since October,” said an official of the airline. On Friday, the airline operated a full flight from Calcutta to Dhaka, said the official.

IndiGo and Biman Bangladesh operate daily flights on the route. Calcutta airport officials stated that all the flights operated on Friday.

However, the Biman Bangladesh flight from Dhaka was delayed by more than four hours. Airport sources stated that a commotion at the Dhaka airport caused the delay.

The commotion happened after the body of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi arrived on Friday from Singapore. Hadi, a leader of Bangladesh’s 2024 student-led uprising, was flown to Singapore for treatment after being wounded in an assassination attempt on December 12 and died there.

At city hospitals, patient footfall had been growing.

“Slowly, the flow had started picking up again and had come back to the September 2024 number. Though on a much lower base, it had increased by 30 per cent over the last two months. The numbers in OPDs were around 2,200, and in the wards, it was slightly less than 200 on a monthly average for the last three months,” said R. Venkatesh, group COO, Narayana Health which runs RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Mukundapur.

“If the situation continues for a while, the numbers may dip by 50 per cent or more,” he said.

At Peerless Hospital, the number of Bangladeshi patients had dipped to around 12 every day in 2024. Since then, it had risen to around 25.

“But it could go down again if the violence continues,” said Sudipta Mitra, CEO of Peerless Hospital.

At the RN Tagore hospital, Habib, 33, a trader, arrived on Friday for treatment. Habibb is a resident of Sonargaon in Narayanganj. He reached the city on the road through the Benapole-Petrapole border.

“It took a lot of time to leave Dhaka because of severe traffic congestion. There were barricades on several roads because of violence. Along with it, I could see many vehicles leaving Dhaka. I had never seen so many vehicles leaving Dhaka,” he said.

He has a medical visa but is worried about returning home.