Development of all Bangladesh airports in progress
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) held a public hearing on November 11 for the first time to raise accountability and transparency of the services rendered at airports in the country, including country’s main gateway by air – Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
The public hearing was chaired by Air Vice Marshal M Naim Hassan, Chairman, CAAB. Air Cdre M Mostafizur Rahman, Member (Operations & Planning), Md. Hemayet Hossain, Member (Admin), (Additional Secretary), Md Abdul Hai, Member (Finance), (Additional Secretary), Shah Md Imdadul Haque, Member (Security), (Additional Secretary) were also present.
CAAB’s public hearing took cognisance of several issues and said will take action to ensure improved services to passengers and both domestic and international airlines.
CAAB Chairman said Saidpur and Cox’s Bazar airports will get special attention in the development plan to become two new international airports.
The 6,000-feet Saidpur airport will become a major hub for air connectivity and transit for India, Nepal and Bhutan. Installation is in progress for simple approach light (SAL) to ensure visibility approach of 1.8 km and a VOR (VHF omnidirectional range) for combined radio navigation station for aircrafts, he added.
Regarding Cox’s Bazar airport, he said it will undergo major restructuring to be converted into an international airport with 12,000 feet runway to accommodate large aircrafts including Airbus A380 with state of the art ILS (Instrument Landing System), VOR and runway lights and also for overflying international airlines.
The CAAB Chairman said the mega Terminal 3 (T3) would be built with financial and technical support from JICA of Japan. The construction will begin from early next year and is expected to be completed in two years.
The new T3 will have 14 boarding bridge and 37 aprons for parking of aircrafts, in addition to existing 29 aprons. The T3 would be three times larger than the present two terminals, with a car parking for 1,500 vehicles.
Once these facilities once implemented would improve the compliance ratings, audited by UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The rating which had dropped to 33 points, has now increased to 75 points and recently bagged an award from ICAO in Montreal.
