Home ›› 13 May 2023 ›› Front
Japan has shown interest in getting ground handling work at the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka.
The attitude of the Bangladesh government is also positive in this regard, sources in Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said, adding that if everything goes well, Japan can get this job.
The construction work of the third terminal was inaugurated in December 2019. Aviation Dhaka Consortium (ADC) of Japan’s Mitsubishi and Fujita and Korea’s Samsung are working on the project. About 69-70 per cent work of the third terminal has already been completed, said some officials of CAAB, the regulatory authority of the country’s airports.
The cost of this project has been estimated at about Tk 21,399 crore. Out of the total, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is giving Tk 16,141 crore as loan. And the rest of fund is provided by the government of Bangladesh.
As a result, the government is taking Japan’s interest into consideration, sources said.
Ground handling is a part of airport operation and maintenance, including guiding the aircraft to parking bays after landing at the airport, installing doorsteps, loading and unloading passengers’ luggage, cleaning the interior of the aircraft, and service at check-in counter.
According to CAAB sources, 120-130 flights of more than 30 airlines take off and land at HSIA every day and 19-21 thousand passengers use the two terminals at the airport (Terminal 1 and 2). At present, there is an opportunity to serve about 8 million passengers a year. Authorities claim that it will be possible to serve another 12 million passengers, once the third terminal is opened.
Currently, the airport is being managed by CAAB with its own manpower. However, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national flag carrier, is handling the ground and cargo at the airport.
Sources said Biman earns about Tk 500 crore annually from ground handling work. But there are complaints about the quality of ground handling services.
There are allegations that Biman is not providing required ground handling services on time despite taking charges from foreign airlines. As the airlines are not able to operate the flights on schedule, passengers are suffering.
Even ground handling accidents happen at airports. Due to poor handling, the high-ups of the government have held meetings with the civil aviation and tourism ministry. Despite temporary improvement of the situation, mismanagement has been continuing for years.
Due to such complaints, several steps were taken to award ground handling job to the private sector, but it did not go far. Now during the construction work of the third terminal, this issue comes to the fore again. Many show interest in ground handling.
CAAB Chairman Air Vice-Marshal M Mofidur Rahman told The Business Post that a number of Japanese companies have expressed interest in managing the operational and ground handling work of the third terminal through Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The government has taken a policy decision in this regard and the cabinet has also approved it.
However, CAAB is conducting a study on how the work will be done and how it will receive income. “After the study, we will negotiate with them. If they agree to our terms and conditions, they will get the job,” he said.
Mofidur Rahman further said that CAAB will be responsible for managing and maintaining the third terminal until the final decision is made on as to who will do the ground handling work.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali at various programs said that the construction work of the terminal was going on in full swing. “I hope the work will be completed on time. The terminal will be partially inaugurated next October. It will be fully operational next year.”
He also said that once it is launched, modern facilities will be provided to passengers. Air traffic and passenger numbers will also increase, which will contribute to the economy.
