Replacement Qatari air ambulance set to arrive Tuesday for Zia.
Departure plans repeatedly delayed as doctors say she’s too fragile.
Jet equipped for full critical care; London transfer remains uncertain.
An air ambulance scheduled to transport Bangladesh's severely ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia to London for medical care will arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday.
According to news portal bdnews24.com, a senior official at the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) stated on Sunday that the aircraft has been assigned a landing time of 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday and a departure time of 9:00 p.m. on the same day.
After choosing to use a replacement air ambulance for the long-distance medical evacuation, the Qatari government organised the aircraft, renting it from the Germany-based FAI Aviation Group, according to tbsnews.net.
In its initial application, FAI Aviation Group requested permission to land on Tuesday and take off for London on Wednesday.
For about two weeks, Zia, the 80-year-old chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been seeking treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka for several illnesses.
The BNP then claimed that technical difficulties caused the plane's arrival to be delayed. Initially, the three-time prime leader was scheduled to depart early Friday aboard an air ambulance donated by the Emir of Qatar.
According to reports, she is still too sick to travel large distances, so a revised plan for her to leave on Sunday was also postponed.
The medical board treating Zia postponed her planned travel to London for an indefinite period, her personal physician and BNP's policy-making standing committee member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain had told reporters on Saturday.
The Qatar Embassy in Dhaka said the replacement air ambulance, a Bombardier Challenger (CL-60 series) jet, is fitted with full critical-care equipment, including ventilators, monitors, infusion pumps and oxygen systems, and is staffed by doctors, nurses and paramedics trained in in-flight intensive care.
