Photo: Collected
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's third terminal may not start operation next October. Uncertainty has arisen over the start of the terminal as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement has not been signed to determine the cost of operating the terminal. Recently, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Col (retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan feared that the third terminal might not be operational by October. The minister's fears are about to come true due to the pace of work on the terminal’s last part and the non-signing of the operation agreement.
The terminal has not been completed yet. Although the infrastructure construction of the building has been completed, installation, calibration and testing of various equipment are still pending. It will not be possible to open the terminal for passenger use without 100 per cent testing of the equipment. In addition, infrastructure work on the eastern part of the terminal is still pending. Besides, there is supposed to be an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to operate the terminal. That agreement has not yet been signed.
If the contract is signed, around 6,000 workers will be required to operate this terminal. Approximately, this manpower is required to keep the terminal operational 24 hours a day in four shifts. About 4,000 personnel will be required for security only. It also takes some time to train this huge manpower. All in all, there remains widespread doubt about a full launch of the terminal next October.
Meanwhile, Minister Faruk visited the project site on May 30. At that time, he told reporters, "It will not be possible to finish the terminal construction work on time." Many people think that the minister's fears are going to come true with the current progress of the work.
However, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman expressed hope that construction of the third terminal will be completed by October. “We are ready to open it in October. However, the PPP agreement between JICA and the government of Bangladesh has not yet been signed to determine the cost of operating this terminal. It is not clear when the terminal will be operational.”
The cost of the third terminal project has been estimated at Tk 21 thousand 398 crore. Out of this, the government of Bangladesh will give Tk 5 thousand 257 crore. The Aviation Dhaka Consortium consisting of three organisations was given the responsibility to implement the project of the third terminal.
The three companies are Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, Fujita Corporation and Korea's Samsung C&T Corporation. CAAB signed an agreement with Aviation Dhaka Consortium on January 14, 2020. According to the contract, the contractor started working on April 6, 2020. Duration of work implementation is 48 months. The contract value is Tk 20 thousand 598 crore 64 lakh 84 thousand 699 (including CD VAT).
In the meantime, the soft launching of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport was on October 7, 2023. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the ceremony. CAAB says that once the agreement is reached, efforts will be made to open the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for passengers this year. This terminal has three floors. The area of the terminal is 2 lakh 30 thousand square meters. Passenger capacity will be 16 million. Terminal III car parking can accommodate 1,230 cars. There will be 37 aircraft parking bays.
There will be 16 luggage belts for arriving passengers. There will be one custom hall with an area of 1,300 square meters for passengers coming from abroad. There will be six channels. There will be 115 check-in counters, 15 of which will be automatic. There are 128 immigration counters. Among them, there are 15 automatic immigration counters. There are 66 exit immigration counters and 59 arrival immigration counters. There are 3 VVIP terminals. There will be 12 boarding bridges in the first phase. Later, 14 more boarding bridges will be added under another expansion project. The third terminal will not have any connection with the current two terminals. But later, the corridor will be constructed in the project.
The new terminal has a large lounge for transit passengers, which will serve 4 million passengers a year. There is an area of 3,650 square meters to serve VIPs. Once the terminal is fully operational, there will be a subway from Haji camp to Uttara for seamless transportation of passengers to and from the airport. Apart from this, airlines lounge, day-room, movie lounge, play zone for children and food court will bring comfort to the passengers.
According to sources, this terminal has been built in keeping with the modern terminals of the world. For this reason, it is also called the third terminal of dreams. When fully operational, Shahjalal airport will become an aviation hub. There will be unprecedented economic benefits.
Messenger/Fameema
