Fire at Dhaka airport halts flights; planes diverted to Chattogram and Sylhet
Staff Reporter :
Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka were suspended on Saturday afternoon after a fire broke out at the airport’s Cargo Village, prompting the diversion of several incoming flights to Chattogram and Sylhet.
According to officials, the fire originated near Gate 8 of the Cargo Village area.
Talha Bin Jasim, an official at the Fire Service media cell, said multiple units of the Fire Service, along with teams from the Bangladesh Air Force and Civil Aviation Authority, were deployed to control the blaze.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate later confirmed that the Bangladesh Navy had also joined the firefighting efforts.
Following the incident, air traffic at the country’s busiest airport came to a temporary halt. A total of nine flights were diverted—eight to Chattogram’s Shah Amanat International Airport and one to Sylhet’s Osmani International Airport.
Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, spokesperson for Shah Amanat International Airport, said that among the eight diverted flights, two were domestic flights originally bound for Dhaka from Chattogram. “The remaining six were international flights — one from Bangkok, another from the Middle East, and four others from various destinations,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Riyadh (BG-340) carrying 396 passengers was diverted to Sylhet, landing safely at Osmani International Airport at 3:31 PM, according to Airport Director Mohammad Hafiz Ahmed. The aircraft is expected to depart for Dhaka once operations at Shahjalal resume.
Airport sources in Sylhet also reported that a Novoair flight from Dhaka landed there at 3:12 PM and was scheduled to return to Dhaka at 3:30 PM but remained grounded due to the disruption. No other flights on the Dhaka–Sylhet route were canceled as of Saturday evening.
Authorities were yet to determine the cause of the fire, though officials confirmed that it was brought under control after concerted efforts by multiple agencies. Flight operations were expected to gradually resume once safety inspections were completed.