Tickets to see Lionel Messi in a Hong Kong friendly were snapped up in under an hour on Friday after nearly two million people queued online, organisers said. The Argentine great and his Inter Miami side will face a Hong Kong XI at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium on February 4. Football fans in the finance hub of 7.5 million logging in to the ticketing app on Friday morning faced a mammoth queue for tickets, which cost from HK$880 to HK4,880 ($110-$625). "We are absolutely thrilled with the response from the fans," said Michel Lamuniere, chairman and CEO of Tatler Asia, which is helping to stage the game. Some social media users posted screenshots of the app showing an error message which cited "traffic overload". Messi last played in Hong Kong in 2014, also for a friendly game. Miami co-owner David Beckham, who played in Hong Kong in 2003 soon after joining Real Madrid, previously said the MLS club was looking forward to playing in a "beautiful city with a great sports scene". Miami's line-up in Hong Kong will also include Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, according to organisers. The Hong Kong XI will be made up of players from the Chinese territory's top division. Source: BSS

The Saudi Arabian Airlines is going to provide air tickets to 350 passengers today. These tickets will be given to the token holders of serial number 851 to 1200. By this time the airlines has begun to provide tickets to the Bangladeshi expatriates living in Saudi Arabia. In the morning it was seen that several hundred expatriates were waiting to get tickets in front of the airlines office at Karwan Bazar in the capital. The airlines authority is distributing tickets according to the serial number of the tokens. Token holders of serial number 851 to 1200 will get tickets today. On Sunday token holders of serial number 1201 to 1500 will be given tickets. AH   

At last Saudi Arabian Airlines has begun to issue tickets. The airlines authority began issuing tickets from 2 pm on Thursday at its Hotel Sonargaon office. General Manager of the airlines Zahid Hossain said, those who came to the country using return tickets will be given tickets by phases. Those who got tokens should maintain discipline. According to the Saudi airlines officials, now tickets will be issued to the people who came to the country before commencement of the coronavirus pandemic. No new ticket will be issued at the moment. Today tickets will be provided to the token holder of serial number 1 to 500. Besides, tickets for the holder of token number 501 to 850 will be given on Friday, token number 851 to 1200 on Saturday and token number 1201 to 1500 on Sunday. Bangladeshi expatriates had been gathering for the last five days in front of Saudi Airlines office at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital demanding airplane tickets. The standoff situation goes as Saudi government increased the tenure of Akama for 24 days on Wednesday. AH    

Bangladesh Railway has relaxed its previous directive that made National Identity Card (NID) mandatory for passengers while buying train tickets and travelling. In a media statement, the Railways Ministry confirmed the matter on Thursday. The previous directive was relaxed considering the interest of passengers, it said. Four members of a family can purchase tickets by showing one NID from now. Earlier on August 13, the ministry requested passengers to use their NID for train travels. Source: UNB AH

This year Eid train tickets sale will not be limited at Kamalapur railway station. For the homebound people train tickets will be sold from different places in Dhaka on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr. Train tickets can be bought from 6 places. The places are- Dhaka University, Phulbaria, Mirpur, Kamalapur, Airport railway station and Joydevpur of Gazipur. Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan delivered the information after holding a closed-door meeting with railway officers and employees at Kamalapur railway station on Thursday afternoon. The Railway Minister said, train tickets for the next Eid will be sold from six places including Phulbaria, TSC of Dhaka University and Mirpur in the capital. But new app is going to be launched from April 28 and passengers can collect 50 per cent tickets by sitting at home. He also said, a non-stop train service ‘Banalata Express’ from Dhaka to Rajshahi is going to be started from April 25. Non-stop train service from Dhaka to Jashore and Dhaka to Panchagarh will be started by phases. AH 

The sale of advance rail tickets on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr is going to begin from June 1. Railway Minister Mujibul Haque said this at a press conference organized at the Rail Bhaban on Thursday. He said, seven pair special train will ply on the occasion of Eid. The ticket sale will begin from June 1 and continue till June 6. The return ticket sale will begin from June 10 and continue till June 15. The holy Eid ul Fitr is expected to be celebrated on June 16 or 17 depending on sight of the moon. The tickets for June 10 will be given on June 1. Tickets for June 11 will be given on June 2, tickets of June 12 will be given in June 3, tickets of June 13 on June 4, tickets of June 14 on June 5 and tickets of June 15 will be given on June 6.    The Dhaka bound return tickets for June 19 will be given on June 10, tickets of June 20 will be given on June 11, tickets for June 21 on June 12, tickets for June 22 on June 13, tickets for June 23 on June 14 and tickets for June 24 will be given on June 15. Railway Minister Mujibul Haque said, the special trains will run from five days earlier and will continue after seven day of Eid. There will be no holiday for these 12 days. Railway service will be in operation in all the routes throughout the country in these days. He said, 31 Inter City trains will run from Kamalapur railway station and the number of tickets will be 22 thousand. One passenger will be able to buy four tickets. The minister said, the biggest Eid jamaat of the subcontinent takes place at Sholakia Eidgah in Kishoreganj. Two trains- from Bhairab Bazar to Kishoreganj and from Mymensingh to Kishoreganj will be in operation on the Eid day to commute people. AH