The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) hopes to inaugurate the sophisticated radar system at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in October this year.
After having the radar system in place, the authority concerned will be able to properly monitor and identify any aircraft in the sky of Bangladesh.
The entire airspace of the country will come under surveillance after installing this state-of-the-art radar by Thales LAS, a French radar manufacturing company.
CAAB Chairman Air Vice-Marshal M Mofidur Rahman said it will help identify all foreign aircraft operating on international routes using the airspace of Bangladesh, collect flying charges from them and boost the country’s aviation revenue.
While talking to The Business Post, he said, “The radar construction has been completed and our people have been trained on it. Besides, the radar has completed the acceptance test. Now it is in the shipment stage. Hopefully, the radar will arrive in the country in one or two months.”
He also said that the base has already been completed where the radar system will be set up. The construction work of the tower is going on which will be finished on time, he added.
“According to our target, the building construction will be completed by July or August. The radar equipment will be installed by September. Hopefully, the radar will be operational by October and we have plans to inaugurate it at that time.”
Replying to a query, the CAAB chairman said that even after radar inauguration, software integration work will continue as the whole project will be completed by the middle of 2024. “The work is progressing as per the schedule.”
The CAAB signed an agreement with French aerospace company--Thales--on October 21 at InterContinental Hotel in the capital to install a new radar system at Dhaka Airport.
CAAB officials said that the country’s airspace is controlled by the 38-year-old radar. As the air traffic control radio system is also old, they often face problems. And because of the old radar, it is sometimes difficult to detect the planes flying on different borders. Also the charges cannot be collected properly.
Even the analogue radar cannot detect foreign aircraft flying over the sea although the International Court of Arbitration awarded Bangladesh the right to an area of about 19,000 square kilometres in the Bay of Bengal in 2014.
They also said the installation of this modern radar will be a milestone in the history of the country’s aviation. Once the Tk658.40-crore project is implemented, air traffic will be more safe and secure.
The CAAB Chairman said, “Our system is very old. There are many complaints about it. So, now we have to depend on neighbouring countries.”
“But when the radar will be installed, we will be able to address such problems. We can gain controlling capability up to our sea. Our revenue will increase a lot,” he added.
In reply to another question about whether the cost of the project will increase due to rising inflation, Mofidur said that the cost of the project has not been increased yet. If something extra is needed, we will consider it later. We hope that the project will see no cost overruns.”
State minister for civil aviation and tourism Md Mahbub Ali said that the country’s airspace will be more secure after installation of this modern radar and ATC tower. Aviation will be safer and revenue will increase from the aviation sector.”
