HSIA 3rd terminal to open Oct

Staff Reporter :
A part of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) will be commissioned in October this year and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to inaugurate it.
The construction work of the third terminal at HSIA in Dhaka is progressing in full swing as 60 per cent of the project’s work is completed. The third terminal is now visible and various mechanical equipments are now being installed. The main infrastructure works of the terminal will be completed in October. So, we are expecting that the Prime Minister will inaugurate a part of the third terminal in October,” State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali said this while visiting the construction site on Tuesday.
Some 93 per cent of the work will be completed within October this year, he, however, said adding that it will take till the end of 2024 for the terminal to be fully functional; though the target was April 2024.
“There will be no compromise with quality,” he said of the project being implemented by Mitsubishi and Fujita of Japan, and Samsung of South Korea.
Mahbub Ali said that the opening of the third terminal was the expectation of the nation and the airport is the gateway to an independent country.
“Tourists those who come to Bangladesh from abroad can get an idea about the development of the country by entering the airport. Our Metrorail and Padma Bridge have already been commissioned. The foundation stone of the subway-rail has been laid and now the whole world is looking towards the third terminal of the airport,” he added.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice-Marshal Mafidur Rahman said, “This project has saved about Tk 700 crore. With this money, we are implementing some new additions. So it will take more than a year and a half after the soft opening.”
Pointing out the reason for the delay in project completion, he said, “There were supposed to be 12 boarding bridges. But now there will be 26. As a result, the passenger handling capacity has increased from 10 million to 16 million now.”
“Also there will be a VVIP terminal on the west side of the existing runway. It took time to get approval from JICA. So the total work will be delayed,” he added.
Around 4,000 local and foreign workers are engaged in the project, according to CAAB.
Once completed, the terminal can serve twice the number of passengers compared to what Dhaka Airport is currently handling, officials said, adding that after the completion of the project, the airport will be able to provide service to around 22 million passengers every year.
Authorities also said that when the third terminal is completed, it would double the airport’s annual passenger and cargo handling capacity. It will be able to handle five lakh tonnes of cargo compared with the current two lakh tonnes.
Project sources have said that the terminal is being constructed on 542,000 square meters of land and will have a floor space of 230,000 square meters, 177 check-in counters, 64 departure and 64 arrival immigration desks.
Earlier on December 28, 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of Tk 21,300 crore project aimed at increasing the airport’s passenger and cargo capacity. Of the total cost, the government will provide Tk 5,000 crore and the rest will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).