The government is working on building two new airports as part of modernising the existing aviation facilities to meet the growing demand for air travel.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has also moved to upgrade some domestic airports to international level considering the rising number of inbound tourists.
"We are working on developing the country's overall aviation sector to ensure smooth operations of airports and build confidence among people in it ," joint secretary of the ministry Zanendra Nath Sarker told the FE.
He said the modernisation of airports includes building new terminals, strengthening existing runways and taxiways and equipping the airports with improved security system.
Industry insiders said the country's overall air passengers were around 9.0 million in 2018, of which international passengers were 7.6 million and the remaining 1.4 million were domestic passengers.
Air traffic surged a record-high of 30 per cent in 2018, which hovered between 20 and 25 per cent over the past five years, they added.
Of the two planned airports, one will be built in Bagerhat and another in Madaripur, said a senior official of the state-run Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
Some 400 acres of land have already been acquired to build the Khan Jahan Ali Airport in Bagerhat.
The construction of the airport is expected to be completed by June 2020 under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement at a cost of Tk 2.17 billion.
The feasibility study to build another airport in Madaripur is now underway, said Mr Sarker. The government has a plan to build an international airport there, which is expected to be named Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib International Airport, he added.
The third passenger terminal building, known as Terminal 3, at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is expected to be inaugurated by October this year, said a senior Authority official.
The terminal will also have around 5,900 square metres of a VVIP (very very important person) complex, 41,200 square metre cargo building and multi-level car parking building with a tunnel.
The new international passenger terminal building is set to have a floor area of around 226,000 square metres.
The project is being executed by the CAAB and the ministry.
The expansion aims to more than double the airport's annual passenger handling capacity from the current 8.0 million to around 20 million, and the cargo capacity from 200,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes, said the CAAB official.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been providing official development assistance (ODA) worth around JPY76.83bn ($689m) out of the total project cost of around JPY192bn ($1.76bn).
The ministry is working on beefing up the existing runway and taxiway and modernising the terminal of Shah Amanat International Airport and Osmani International Airport to ensure that more international airlines with heavy loads can operate from the two international airports.
The work on the Osmani International Airport is expected to be completed by June 2020.
The runway of Cox's Bazar airport is being developed and its terminal is to be modernised to turn it into an international air facility, said the CAAB official.
The runway of Saidpur airport is being doubled to around 12,000 square feet to turn into an international aviation facility with assistance from India under its credit line.
Some 345 acres of land from the Saidpur municipality and Bangalipur union in Nilphamari and Belaichandi union under Parbatipur upazila in Dinajpur has already been acquired for the purpose, said the CAAB official.
The construction of new terminal building at the Shah Makhdum airport is also going on, he added.
