The newly built terminal at Cox’s Bazar airport will start domestic passenger operations on Monday after undergoing a final test run on Sunday, a senior Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) official said on Saturday.
“We will conduct the final test run tomorrow and the new terminal will be opened for domestic operations from Monday,” CAAB Member (Operations and Planning) Air Commodore Abu Sayeed Mehboob Khan told BSS.
He said he, along with CAAB Member (Air Traffic Management) Md Noor-e-Alam, will travel to Cox’s Bazar tomorrow to oversee the final test run and preparations for the operational opening.
They will remain there through Monday to oversee the commencement of passenger operations from the new terminal, he added.
The development sets a firm date for shifting domestic passenger operations to the newly constructed terminal as CAAB moves ahead with plans to transform Cox’s Bazar into an international airport.
CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Mostafa Mahmood Siddiq earlier told BSS that domestic airlines operating at the airport had completed necessary preparations to shift their passenger-handling activities to the new terminal.
Airlines will initially use golf carts to transport passengers between aircraft and the terminal building.
The new terminal will initially handle both arriving and departing domestic passengers before switching to a hybrid arrangement once international operations begin.
“The terminal arrangement would switch to a hybrid system once international operations begin,” Air Commodore Mehboob Khan said.
Domestic arriving passengers will then use the existing terminal, while departing domestic passengers will complete check-in formalities at the new terminal before proceeding to the old terminal to wait for boarding.
The government is preparing to formally inaugurate Cox’s Bazar as an international airport in October following major infrastructure upgrades, including construction of the new terminal and extension of the runway into the Bay of Bengal.
The international passenger terminal, covering around 17,956 square metres, was constructed under a project with an approved cost of approximately Tk362.63 crore.
It includes departure and arrival facilities, check-in desks, immigration counters, baggage delivery belts, a boarding bridge, lifts, escalators, security screening equipment and other modern passenger-handling facilities.
The airport’s annual passenger-handling capacity is expected to increase from around 730,000 to 1.8 million following the expansion.
CAAB has also extended the airport runway from 9,000 feet to 10,700 feet by reclaiming around 43 hectares of land from the Bay of Bengal, making it the longest runway in Bangladesh.
The extended runway is designed to accommodate fully loaded wide-body aircraft as part of preparations for international operations.
Currently one of the country’s busiest domestic airports, Cox’s Bazar handles an average of 28 to 30 passenger aircraft take-offs and landings daily.
The government expects direct international air connectivity from the country’s premier tourism destination to boost foreign tourist arrivals and stimulate investment in hotels, resorts and other tourism-related businesses.
