BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia left Heathrow Airport tonight (Monday night) for Dhaka aboard a special air ambulance provided by the Emir of Qatar, as she is returning home nearly four months after receiving advanced treatment in London.

“The special air ambulance provided by Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, carrying BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her entourage, took off around 9:35 pm (BST),” said BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan.

He said the flight is scheduled to reach Hamad International Airport in Doha at 1:25am, local time, and will fly to Dhaka after a stopover of one hour and 35 minutes.

Earlier, the BNP chief left the home of her elder son and BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman around 7pm (BST) and reached the airport in nearly 40 minutes.

Tarique personally drove his mother to Heathrow Airport and saw her off there.

Khaleda sat in the rear seat beside Tarique, while Dr Zubaida Rahman and her daughter were in the back seats of the car on their way to the airport.

A video posted by Tarique on his verified Facebook page shows him happily seeing his mother off and other entourage at the airport, saying “Allah Hafez”.

Several hundred leaders and activists of the BNP’s UK Chapter gathered near the airport to see Khaleda off.

As the party leaders and workers shouted slogans upon seeing Khaleda’s vehicle, she waved her hand towards them.

Khaleda Zia is accompanied by her two daughters-in-law—Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of her eldest son Tarique Rahman, and Syeda Shamila Rahman, wife of her late son Arafat Rahman Koko—along with other entourage members, including her medical team.

“She is expected to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 10am Tuesday. We hope that she will reach Dhaka on time,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told UNB.