Dhaka Airport: Construction of third terminal to begin Dec 28

Construction of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) will begin on December 28, Air Vice Marshal Mafidur Rahman, chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said yesterday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally lay the foundation stone for the construction work in a 30 lakh square metre area, which is scheduled to be completed by 2023, he said at a views-exchange meeting at HSIA.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on December 10 approved the revised expansion plan for HSIA with an increased cost of Tk 21,399.06 crore.

The third terminal will have a floor space of 2,30,000 square metres, 115 check-in counters, 64 departure and 64 arrival immigration desks.

There will also be a new 63,000 square metre import and export cargo complex and a 5,42,000-square metre apron for 37 aircrafts, among others.

Once the project is implemented, the main airport of the country will be able to provide service to 1.20 crore passengers every year, said the CAAB boss.

According to the project design, the third terminal will have 12 boarding bridges and conveyor belts each. There will be 20 counters at the third terminal and each counter will have the ability to scan up to 2,000 items of luggage every hour. In addition, there will be parking facilities for 1,120 cars.

According to sources, the passenger handling capacity of the airport is now eight million a year and the number of passengers is expected to reach 14 million by 2025 and 24.8 million by 2035.

In reply to a query, Mafidur said they are buying new machines to get rid of birds flying over the airport, as they might cause danger to aircrafts. 

Around 130 domestic and international flights carrying 25,000-30,000 passengers use HSIA every day. There are 26 foreign airlines operating there, officials said. The airport handles around 1.6 crore items of luggage every year, but there are only eight carousels in the two international terminals.

Asked about corruption in various development projects of CAAB, he said, “Stern action will be taken if there is any irregularity in this work.

We have already sacked the director of Cox’s Bazar airport’s development project. If anyone is found involved in any irregularity, they will not be spared.”

He added, “We are following zero tolerance policy against corruption in line with the prime minister’s anti-corruption drive.”