As part of a major facelift, a second runway will be built to allow more air traffic
Shahjalal International Airport is set to get a brand new terminal and a second runway as part of an effort to increase its efficiency and capacity to serve more passengers.
Authorities concerned plan to spend an estimated Tk10,000 crore for the terminal and its related expenditures during the first phase, while building a second runway for a cost of around Tk2,300 crore in the second phase.
Sources said all preliminary procedures for building the new terminal is complete and an international tender for construction would be floated in December to build the third terminal of the capital’s only international airport.
Engineer MA Malek, CAAB coordinator for building the third terminal, said consultancy firms have already prepared their report on the project and have been told to hand in the plans by June 30.
“Within 90 days of getting the report from the three firms, the CAAB authority will invite tender regarding this,” Malek said. “Presently, hundreds of flights are leaving and landing at the airport; for which, a huge pressure is created on the existing two terminals. If the third one is built, then it would help to ease some pressure.”
Following a nod from the Prime Minister’s Office in May, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has reportedly prepared the working plan for the expansion project.
CAAB officials said the third terminal would be build on 130 acres of land and be situated on the space between the runway and the taxiway – that stretches up to the Central Engineering Maintenance and Stores Unit. There are plans to model the terminal on Singapore’s Changi Airport, ranked as one of the best in the world.
In a later phase, authorities also plan to build a second runway on the west side of the existing runway.
Following a tender almost a year ago, three firms – Yushin of Korea, CPG of Singapore and Design Development Consultancy of Bangladesh – were appointed to formulate a master plan for the airport expansion project.
According to their master plan, the first phase of work is expected to start this year and be finished in 2019. However, it is still undecided whether the necessary Tk10,000 crore would come from CAAB funds or through a public private partnership initiative.
In the first phase, a flyover is planned to be built to give vehicles access to the third terminal through Khilkhet-Nikunja.
Currently, Dhaka airport is capable of handling around eight million passengers annually; but with a 9.5% yearly increase in passenger numbers, the limit is expected to be crossed in 2018. During the current fiscal year, the airport saw 6.7 million passengers using its facilities.
Handling the flight traffic using only a single runway has also been posing logistical challenges for the airport authority, who even had to shut down all its night operations for six months in 2013 to re-carpet the runway.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
