New terminal at Cox's Bazar Airport to open Monday

The airport's runway, extended into the sea, will let wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and 747 land with ease

Domestic flight operations will begin at the newly built international terminal of Cox’s Bazar International Airport from Monday.

The move follows instructions from the headquarters of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

In a letter on Thursday, Cox's Bazar Airport Director Md Golam Mortoza Hossain asked all airport departments and airlines to shift their operations to the new terminal from Sept 28.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, US-Bangla Airlines, Novoair and Air Astra, among other airlines, have received the instructions in this regard.

Kamrul Islam, general manager of the public relations department of US-Bangla Airlines, said; “The new building definitely has some modern facilities. Passengers as well as airlines had been demanding for a long time that Cox’s Bazar Airport be modernised. Since there is a plan and project for international operations, and Cox’s Bazar is a tourist destination, we welcome the government’s decision as an operator to conduct flight operations from the new building.”

Novoair Managing Director Mofizur Rahman said, “A decision has been made to operate flights from the new building. The matter was also discussed with the airlines. However, directives have been given to share the check-in counters. In other words, Novoair and Air Astra will share check-in counters. We believe this is a wrong decision.”

Asked about the issue, Airport Director Mortoza said, “There will actually be no problem with this. We have 14 check-in counters here. The airlines can use separate check-in counters if they want.”

On preparations for the new building, he said: "We have completed almost all the preparations. Everything is in order."

The airport modernisation project, launched in 2018 under a government master plan, aims to transform Cox's Bazar, the country's premier tourist city, into an international aviation hub and boost its tourism industry.

One of its key features was the expansion of the airport’s runway into the sea. As part of the work, a 1,700-foot section of sea was reclaimed and added to the runway, extending it from 9,000ft to 10,700ft and making it longer than the runway at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

Following approval by the government at the time, the main formal inauguration of the runway expansion project, costing between Tk 15.68 billion and Tk 18.68 billion, took place on Aug 29, 2021.

The project also includes a large new terminal equipped with international-standard facilities and modern aviation infrastructure.

It is said that the construction of the runway into the sea will allow wide-body international aircraft such as Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 747-400 and Airbus aircraft to take off and land at the airport with ease.

With the launch of domestic operations at the new terminal building, Cox’s Bazar is reaching an important stage in its formal transition into a full-fledged international airport in Bangladesh.