Risky landings at Barishal airport as runway in dire state

A high level investigation team of the Ministry of Civil Aviation found that the runway at Barishal airport has become risky for landing of planes as it is in dire need of repair works and may cause accidents anytime.

The asphalt surface of the runway has corroded away significantly, the investigation revealed.

Led by Sukesh Kumar Sarker, additional secretary (Biman and CA), the delegation of the ministry also found the Sugandha River had moved 75 metres to the northern end of the runway at the airport due to severe river erosion.

If the ongoing trend of river erosion continues, landing and take-off of aircraft at the airport will become risky.

"Amid this situation, if the runway is not repaired urgently, accidents may take place anytime during landing of aircrafts at the airport," Sukesh Kumar told The Daily Star today.

The delegation visited the airport on January 3 to get first-hand experience about the situation, and later revealed the sorry state of the airport in its report, including the fragile terminal building, unprotected runway with damaged asphalt surfaces, and complexity centring apron area.

The civil aviation ministry recently sent the report to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) for taking necessary measures, sources at the ministry said.

In its findings, the body recommended urgent repair and maintenance of the entire terminal building, construction of boundary walls at unprotected areas, repair works for asphalt surface of runway, and immediate measures to protest the airport from river erosion in coordination with the Ministry of Water Resources and the Water Development Board.

Commercial flight operation started at the Barishal airport in 1995.