Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) yesterday (March 14, 2023) shared stunning photos of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s Terminal 3 on its Facebook page. The photos show the beautifully designed ceiling of the new terminal and construction work going on at the extension site. Read More: Bay terminal likely to start operation in 2026: Khalid  

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman has said that the expansion and modernization works of all 8 airports – international and domestic – in the country, involving Tk 35,850 crore, will be completed by the end of the current year. “Once the work is completed, there will be major changes in infrastructures of the airports. All the airports will be equipped with modern amenities, and they will get an attractive look,” the CAAB chief told UNB in an exclusive interview recently. Work is going on in full swing to implement the projects as per the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said, adding that the engineers of CAAB worked round the clock even during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have ensured the quality of the work and maintained European standard in terms of equipment and safety materials,” he added. “More than 70 percent work of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka has been completed and the operational activities of the new terminal will be inaugurated in October this year. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the third terminal,” he said. Read more: Domestic airports are getting face-lift to offer quality services to passengers: CAAB “After completion of the third terminal, passenger handling capacity at Dhaka airport will increase from 10 million to 22 million. Besides, cargo handling capacity will rise from 2.20 lakh ton to 7 lakh ton,” the CAAB chairman added. He said that passengers will be able to avail international standard services once the third terminal opens. Construction work of 73,548 square meter cargo apron of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is now underway. Eighty-five percent of the project has been completed and after implementation, the apron will be able to park additional 4 long-range cargo aircraft. Read more: World-class third terminal of Dhaka Airport to be visible by Dec: CAAB Besides, the construction of general aviation hangar, hangar apron and fire station expansion project at Dhaka airport, at a cost of Tk 430 crore, is on.

A female passenger has reportedly been advised to get married and settle down in Dhaka by an immigration officer at Dhaka airport. The passenger, Priyanka Basu, shared her experience on Twitter on January 5, 2023 – that received a lot of reactions, reports the Hindustan Times. After enquiring her details at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the immigration officer apparently advised Priyanka to “find a Bangladeshi man, get married and settle in Dhaka.” Read More: E-gates at Sylhet airport will improve passengers’ experience: Foreign Minister He also noted down her contact number to be in touch if a “suitable match” comes up, Priyanka tweeted. There were many responses to the tweet, with Twitterati making jokes and mocking the immigration officer’s advice. “Never knew this was part of their job description,” said one Twitter user. Read More: Dense fog: 8 int'l flights diverted, 7 delayed at Dhaka airport Another wrote, “Sounds like this officer has stakes in a ‘marriage bureau’, start-up (dating service) as you call them in the West. I hope he will soon make you an offer you cannot refuse.”

Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka were disrupted on Sunday (January 08, 2023) as heavy fog covered the capital like the past few days. Eight international flights have been diverted and operations of seven others were delayed due to dense fog, Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director of the airport, told UNB. Read more: Two flights from Middle East make emergency landing in Sylhet due to dense fog Flights of Salam Air, Kuwait Air, Air Arabia, Jazeera Airlines, Gulf Air, Malindo and BG-350 airlines were diverted to Kolkata airport in India while the flight of Air Asia airline to Yangon in Myanmar. Flights of seven airlines-- Oman Air, Biman Bangladesh, Qatar Airways, Emirates Airlines, Saudia Airlines, Himalaya Airlines and Fly Dubai Airlines—were delayed due to poor visibility caused by dense fog. Earlier on January 4, an international flight was diverted to Hyderabad in India and operations of seven others were delayed due to the same reason. Read more: Dense fog: 1 int'l flight diverted, 7 delayed at Dhaka Airport On January 3, two international flights carrying passengers from Qatar and Saudi Arabia headed for Dhaka airport made emergency landings at Sylhet Osmani International Airport due to dense fog.

The fire that engulfed two oil tanker trucks at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s 3rd terminal this morning has been doused. Shahjahan Shikdar, Deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters’ media cell, said the two oil tanker trucks caught fire at 10:12 am today (December 14, 2022). Also read: Fire breaks out at BM container depot in Chattogram On information, four firefighting units rushed to the spot and had the fire under control at 10:52 am. The firefighters managed to fully douse the fire at 11:28 am. However, what caused the fire could not be known immediately. Read More: APBn detains man with gold worth Tk 69 lakh at Dhaka Airport

The authority of Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said the luggage of 2022 SAFF champion footballers were received by the Bangladesh Football Federation representative in a “locked and intact” condition. The authority also said they did not find any irregularity in handling the luggage at the airport, after going over CCTV footage. Earlier, at least two members of the Bangladesh women’s football team claimed their luggage were broken into at the airport and money was stolen. Read: Sabina wants to keep winning trophies playing entertaining football The footballers said they lost around Tk 2.5 lac which was in their luggage. “After receiving the complaint, we checked the CCTV footage and found that the complaint (of luggage being broken into) is not true,” a press release from HSIA authority reads. The press release was signed by the executive director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Kamrul Islam. Read: Footballer Ritu Porna suffers head injury during victory ride on open-deck bus SAFF Women's Championship 2022 winner Bangladesh  team landed in Dhaka on Wednesday around 1:45 pm. They were taken to the headquarters of Bangladesh Football Federation from there by an open-deck bus. It was the first time that a Bangladesh women’s football team won the SAFF Championship.

PM’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman has expressed dissatisfaction with the standard of customer services at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He expressed his discontent after a surprise visit to the airport at 3pm on Monday. Salman said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent him to visit the airport receiving news that passengers are being harassed in various ways at Shahjalal Airport. Also read: Govt to provide financial support to ensure compliance in industries: Salman F Rahman “What we’ve seen is that the passengers are harassed in two or three place.  Overall I’m not satisfied. There are many scopes to improve the situation from what I have seen,” he said. The PM’s adviser told the authorities concerned to improve the situation. “Those who are in the field need to change their mindset,” he said. He said many complaints are found as the passengers are being subjected to unnecessary harassments in the airport. He said the Prime Minister has asked for solutions and coordination to remove the ordeals. “If we see that the rate of complaints is not decreasing after today's visit, then strict action will be taken,” he added. "The government has taken this matter very seriously. We started the process today,” said Salman F Rahman. Also read: Mediation, arbitration for commercial disputes not being used widely: Salman F Rahman PMO senior secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah and high officials of the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh and the airport were present.

The High Court on Sunday directed the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to control mosquitoes at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Fatema Najib passed the order during a hearing on a supplementary petition submitted in this regard. The court asked the Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB) chairman to submit a report in this regard within the next 10 days. Read: 319 illegal brick kilns in Dhaka, 4 surrounding districts, DoE DG reports to HC Advocate Tanvir Ahmed appeared for the petitioners during the hearing. The petition was submitted attaching a recently published report in this regard on a national daily newspaper, said advocate Tanvir.   On February 26, 2019, the lawyer sent a legal notice to the authority after spotting some local and foreign passengers being menaced by mosquitos during his visit to the airport at night. He asked the authority to take steps in this regard within three days of receiving the notice as it will degrade the country's reputation. Read:HC allows Evaly’s Rassel, Shamima to transfer 50 % of their shares to relatives On March 3, that year he filed a writ petition to the High Court in this regard after receiving no reply to the notice. On March 12, 2019, the High Court issued a rule questioning the negligence of the authority in killing mosquitoes at the Shahjalal International Airport. Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, CAAB Chairman, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor and commissioner of the ward adjacent to the airport were made respondents to the rule.

Police detained two people, including a security guard of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, with 30 gold bars worth Tk2.25 crore at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Thursday evening. The detainees are security guard Ibrahim Khalil and Kamal Uddin, a passenger who arrived at the airport on a Biman flight from Saudi Arabia's Riyadh. The Airport Armed Police Battalion first detained Ibrahim due to his suspicious movement; he handed gold bars, weighing around 3.5kg, from inside his jacket. Kamal, who carried the gold to the airport, was held based on the information given by Ibrahim, said Ziaul Haque, additional superintendent (media) of the Airport Armed Police. "Noakhali's Ibrahim was supposed to get Tk1.95 lakh to take the gold bars out of the airport after Feni's Kamal brought the precious metal there. A case will be filed against them at Airport Police Station," he added.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the government to take immediate steps to fix the inoperative explosive detection systems (EDS) at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The association also called for increasing the number of scanners to speed up the process of scanning export cargoes. A BGMEA delegation, led by the president of the apparel sector's apex body Faruque Hassan, made the request to Md Mokammel Hossain, secretary at the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, during a meeting at the secretariat Sunday. BGMEA vice-presidents Shahidullah Azim, Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Md Nasir Uddin and Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, managing director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, were also present at the meeting. READ: BGMEA seeks Germany’s support to continue duty benefits in EU RMG exports are being hampered as two EDS machines have remained out of service while another two newly installed EDS machines at the airport could be made operational as they are yet to get validated. So, the BGMEA leaders stressed regularly carrying out maintenance of the EDS to keep them operational as the scanning process is hampered very often due to technical glitches. They also requested the authorities to ensure enough space at the scanning area so that export cargoes could be scanned in an orderly manner and shipped timely. Besides, a spacious parking lot is needed to keep the export freight after scanning for air shipment. READ: BGMEA wants Denmark's support to continue duty benefits in EU market The delegation called on bringing RMG goods inside the cargo village or canopy immediately after unloading them from aircraft so that they are not damaged due to rain. The BGMEA leaders requested for steps to properly stack RMG goods in the cargo shed so that cargoes can be found out easily and released quickly.