The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) has approved the draft agreement with a Japanese consortium for operating the much-discussed Third Terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka.
The approval was given at a meeting of the Caab board today (10 November) after a detailed review of the proposed terms and conditions, according to sources at the aviation regulator.
Caab Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Mostafa Mahmood Siddiq presided over the meeting.
A source who attended the meeting told The Business Standard, requesting anonymity, that board approval was a mandatory step before signing the agreement.
“According to the rules, the agreement must first be approved by the board. That is what we did today,” the source said.
Asked whether the board had also approved controversial conditions, including a restriction preventing any new competing civilian airport within 100 kilometres of Dhaka’s main airport from beginning commercial operations for 15 years, the source declined to comment in detail.
“Details of these issues will be disclosed later at a press conference,” the source said.
The board’s decisions will now be forwarded to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism for approval before being sent to the other relevant ministries, sources said.
Earlier, the preliminary decision to hand over the operation of the terminal and ground-handling services to the Japanese consortium triggered criticism over several conditions proposed by the consortium.
The proposed agreement has drawn particular attention over concessions reportedly offered by the government and restrictions that could affect the commercial operation of competing airports near the capital.
The government is targeting a partial opening of the Third Terminal on 16 December, Victory Day.
Built with financing from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the terminal is expected to significantly expand Dhaka airport’s passenger-handling capacity.
The Japanese consortium comprises Japan Airport Terminal Co Ltd, Sumitomo Corporation, Nippon Koei and Narita International Airport Corporation.
The terminal has remained unused for around 22 months despite being nearly 99% complete. According to earlier estimates, the government needs another Tk902 crore to make it operational, while the project is valued at around $2.1 billion.
Once fully operational, the Third Terminal is expected to increase HSIA’s annual passenger-handling capacity from around eight million to 16-22 million passengers. Its annual cargo-handling capacity is expected to rise from 250,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes.
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