The long wait to bring Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s Third Terminal into operation could finally end in December, with aviation authorities completing the evaluation of a Japanese company’s proposal to run the facility and preparing to enter the crucial negotiation stage.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has completed its assessment of the company’s technical and financial proposals, clearing a major hurdle towards an operating agreement for the terminal, which has remained largely unused despite being virtually complete for years.
Negotiations are expected to begin in the first week of September, with officials aiming to sign a final agreement in October and proceed with a limited-scale soft opening on December 16, according to CAAB sources.
The development provides the clearest timeline yet for making the Tk-thousands-of-crores aviation infrastructure operational after prolonged uncertainty over who would operate and maintain it.
The Japanese company submitted its Request for Proposal (RFP) to CAAB last Tuesday. An evaluation committee subsequently assessed its technical capability before reviewing the financial proposal.
S M Lablu Rahman, CAAB member (Administration) and chairman of the proposal evaluation committee, said the evaluation process had been completed.
“As the next step, we will hold discussions with the Japanese company. After the discussions, there will be an agreement. We are moving toward our target of a soft opening by December 16,” he told Bangla Tribune.
“We hope we will be able to complete everything within the stipulated time.”
Construction of the Third Terminal began on December 30, 2019, and it was ceremonially soft-opened in October 2023 after more than 99% of the project was completed.
Yet passengers have not been able to use the facility for regular operations for nearly three years amid delays in finalising its operation and maintenance arrangements.
Air Commodore Abu Sayeed Mehboob Khan, CAAB member for Operations and Planning and vice-chairman of the evaluation committee, said the RFP followed lengthy discussions with the Japanese side.
“If everything goes well, we hope we will be able to reach a final agreement within a short time,” he said.
“If everything remains in order, it will be possible to open the terminal on December 16 as announced by the government.”
Preparations are meanwhile underway for the proposed opening, including system testing, recruitment and staff training, security arrangements and coordination among immigration, airlines, ground handlers and other agencies.
The 230,000-square-metre terminal is expected to dramatically expand the country’s main international airport.
The existing first and second terminals can handle around 8 million passengers annually; with the Third Terminal operational, total capacity is expected to rise to as many as 20 million passengers a year.
It will have parking facilities for 37 aircraft, 100 check-in counters, 10 self-check-in kiosks, 16 regular baggage belts and four dedicated belts for oversized baggage.
The terminal also includes automated baggage-handling facilities, modern baggage storage, airline lounges, baby-care facilities, children’s play areas, health inspection and first-aid rooms, disease-testing facilities and an isolation area.
For CAAB, however, the immediate challenge is no longer construction but turning the completed infrastructure into a functioning airport terminal.
If negotiations begin as scheduled in September and culminate in an agreement in October, December 16 could finally mark the beginning of passenger operations at a terminal that has spent years waiting for take-off.