Shahjalal International Airport
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (Bengali: হজরত শাহজালাল আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর Hôjrot Shahjalal Antorjatik Bimanbôndor ) (IATA: DAC, ICAO: VGHS), formerly Zia International Airport, is the largest airport in Bangladesh. It is located in the capital Dhaka and started operations in 1980, taking over as the country's sole international airport from Tejgaon Airport. It is the home base and hub of all Bangladeshi airlines, including Biman Bangladesh Airlines, GMG Airlines, and United Airways.The airport has an area of 1,981 acres (802 ha). About 66% of the country's international and domestic arrivals and departures occur through this airport, while the country's second largest airport, Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, accounts for nearly 21% of passengers. Approximately 4 million international and 2 million domestic passengers and 150,000 tons of freight and mail pass through the airport annually. The airport has a capacity of 8 million passengers per year, and is predicted by the CAAB to be enough until 2026.
Shahjalal International Airport connects Bangladesh with many major cities of the world: Biman Bangladesh Airlines flies internationally from the airport to thirteen cities in Europe and Asia.
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Location
The airport is located in Kurmitola and was originally 11 NM (20 km; 13 mi) north of the capital Dhaka.[9] It lies on the eight-lane Airport Road To the north of the airport lies Uttara (Dhaka) and Gazipur, while Dhaka city lies to its south. The railway station opposite to the airport is named Airport Station.Due to the expansion of the city, the airport has been engulfed by the city, prompting the government to consider relocating it elsewhere.
History
In 1941, during the Second World War, the British government built a landing strip at Kurmitola, several kilometers north of Tejgaon, as an extra landing strip for the Tejgaon Airport, which at the time was a military airport, to operate warplanes towards the war fields of Kohima (Assam) and Burmese war theatres.After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Tejgaon Airport became the first civil airport in what was then East Pakistan, current day Bangladesh. In 1966 that a project was taken by the then Pakistan Government to construct a new airport at present site north of Kurmitola was selected and tender floated for construction of terminal bldg. and runway under technical support of French experts. For transportation of construction materials a rail station (present airport railway station) was built near the site. However, the new airstrip was halfway done when the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out in 1971. During war, the airstrip suffered severe damage.
After independence, the government of Bangladesh restarted works abandoned by the previous contractors and consultants during the war. It decided to make the airport the country's principal international airport and appointed Aéroports de Paris of France as its new consultants. The airport began operations in 1980 after the main runway and central portion of the present terminal building was formally opened by then-President Ziaur Rahman as "Dacca International Airport" ("Dacca" is the former spelling of "Dhaka"). The project took a further three years to complete, during which time Ziaur Rahman was assassinated (in 1981), so, after its completion in 1983, then-President Abdus Sattar re-inaugurated the airport as Zia International Airport.
In 1992, the airport terminal area experienced rapid expansion with addition of boarding bridges and equipment. A multistorey car park with space for 500 cars was also built at this time.
In 2010, the government changed the airport's name once again, from Zia International Airport to Shah Jalal International Airport, to honour Shah Jalal, one of Bangladesh's most respected Sufi saints.
On December 6th, 2011, ZA006, a Boeing 787 stopped for fuel at Shahjalal International Airport during a distance, speed, and endurance record attempt. This aircraft, powered by General Electric GEnx engines, had flown 10,710 nautical miles (19,830 km) non-stop from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington eastward to Shahjalal International Airport, setting a new world distance record for aircraft in the 787's weight class, which is between 440,000 pounds (200,000 kg) and 550,000 pounds (250,000 kg). This flight surpassed the previous distance record of 9,127 nautical miles (16,903 km), set in 2002 by an Airbus A330. The aircraft then continued eastbound from Dhaka to return to Boeing Field, setting a world-circling speed record of 42 hours, 27 minutes.
Terminals, airlines and destinations
The airport consists of three major terminals, T1 and T2 for international flights and a third terminal (known as Domestic Terminal) for domestic flights. The arrivals deck is the ground floor and the upper floor is the departures hall. A VIP terminal is built only about 200 metres from the main gate and is only used occasionally.Passenger
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Afriqiyah Airways | Tripoli [Suspended] |
| Air Arabia | Sharjah |
| Air India Express | Kolkata |
| Bahrain Air | Bahrain |
| Bangkok Airways | Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi |
| Biman Bangladesh Airlines | Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dammam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Heathrow, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Mumbai, Muscat, Riyadh, Rome-Fiumicino, Singapore, Sylhet |
| China Eastern Airlines | Beijing-Capital, Kunming |
| China Southern Airlines | Guangzhou, Shanghai-Pudong |
| Dragonair | Hong Kong |
| Druk Air | Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Paro |
| Emirates | Dubai |
| Etihad | Abu Dhabi |
| Flydubai | Dubai |
| GMG Airlines | Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Kolkata |
| Gulf Air | Bahrain |
| Jet Airways | Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai |
| Kuwait Airways | Kuwait |
| Malaysia Airlines | Kuala Lumpur |
| Mihin Lanka | Colombo |
| Oman Air | Muscat |
| Pakistan International Airlines | Karachi |
| Qatar Airways | Doha |
| RAK Airways | Ras Al Khaimah |
| Regent Airways | Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Jessore, Sylhet |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines | Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah |
| Singapore Airlines | Singapore |
| Thai Airways International | Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi |
| Tiger Airways | Singapore |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atatürk |
| United Airwa | Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dubai, Jeddah, Jessore, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Muscat, Rajshahi, Saidpur, Sylhet |
  Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) intended to complete the project to make the country's first international airport meet safety requirements set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Now, the CAAB has to redesign the entire project that needs to revise the project duration and budget further, said a letter sent by the CAAB to the civil aviation and tourism ministry in April. The ministry then agreed in principle to consider allowing an extension of two years to the project depending on getting approval from the Mixed Credit Division of the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) that funds the project. Now the ministry and CAAB are seriously trying to get out of the stigma and upgrade own status to category-1 by meeting all necessary safety standards, where upgrading the airport is a must, said officials. The project was first taken in 2001 to upgrade the country's biggest airport's capacity to handle heavy aircrafts, such as Boeing that need a wide and sturdier runway and taxiway. The modernisation project includes re-constructing the existing taxiway to make a high-speed taxiway and modernising the drainage system. Procurement of equipment for maintenance, visual guidance and radio communication, primary and secondary radar are also included in the project. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved an estimated cost of Tk 328 crore, of which the DANIDA was supposed to provide the major portion to complete the project. However, the company demanded a 17.5 percent increase from the actual rate, as the bidding validity period expired by then, and thus the ministry cancelled the bidding. Although, the parliamentary standing committee on the civil aviation ministry asked the CAAB to complete the tasks by September, extending two months beyond its actual deadline set by the government. GM Quader, civil aviation and tourism minister, said the project was delayed mainly due to some impediments caused by both parties. Shah Amanat International AirportShah Amanat International Airport (IATA: CGP, ICAO: VGEG), (Bengali:শাহ আমানত আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর, Śhā Amānat Antarjātik Bimānbandar) named after an Islamic saint, is an international airport serving Bangladesh's south-eastern port city of Chittagong and the Bangladesh Air Force. It is Bangladesh's second largest airport. It was formerly known as MA Hannan International Airport but was renamed on 2 April 2005 by the government of Bangladesh. The move was controversial since the previous name honored a member of the Awami League who were the opposition party at the time. The airport handles about 21% of Bangladesh's air traffic, almost 66% of it is handled by Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, nearly 4% by Osmani International Airport and the remaining 9% by Bangladesh's 5 domestic airports.Shah Amanat Airport is known by several other names. They include; Hazrat Shah Amanat Airport, Patenga Airport, Chittagong Airport |
