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The government is mulling whether to resume operations at five Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) airports to facilitate domestic travel considering the improved living standard of people in Bangladesh, according to Mahbub Ali, the state minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism.
He made these comments at a seminar on “capacity building of international airports and opening of stalled domestic airports in Bangladesh” at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
The seminar, organised by Bangladesh Monitor to promote smart aviation in the country, was supported by Eastern Bank Ltd.
STOL airports are used by conventional fixed-wing aircraft that have short runway requirements for take-off and landing.
The five STOL airports in the country are situated in the Ishwardi, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, Shamshernagar and Cumilla regions.
Regular operations were once conducted at the five STOL airports but due to various problems and a shortage of passengers, flights were gradually suspended over the years.
The state minister said Bangladesh’s aviation sector has been changing gradually through consistent development.
The current growth of the country’s aviation sector is already the highest in the region but is expected to triple in the next 15 years.
“The country’s socioeconomic status will be developed, and huge employment will be generated if we can tap this potential,” he added.
Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, said they are planning to take measures to reopen the country’s STOL airports as the peoples’ economic status has improved.
He also highlighted the government’s ongoing activities to upgrade the country’s different airports and runways to make Bangladesh a regional aviation hub.
Mafizur Rahman, managing director of Novoair, stressed the need for having a parallel runway at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to tap the potential of the additional passenger handling capacity offered by the third terminal.
Kazi Wahidul Alam, an expert on aviation, conducted the seminar.
(TDS)
