The devastating crash of Air India Flight AI-171 near Ahmedabad on June 12, killing over 260 people, including residents on the ground, has reignited global concerns about aviation safety in densely populated urban zones. The tragedy casts a particularly ominous shadow over South Asian capitals, such as Dhaka, whose primary international airport, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), is situated uncomfortably close to one of the world’s most congested cities.
As Bangladesh aspires toward infrastructural modernization and regional connectivity, it is essential to ask a difficult but necessary question: Is Dhaka’s airport in the right place? Unfortunately, the current conditions suggest it is not. In its current form and location, HSIA poses a serious safety risk, not just to passengers and crew, but to millions of city dwellers directly under its flight paths. This article argues for a bold, future-oriented plan: Relocating the airport to a safer peri-urban zone, building dedicated expressway and rail connections, and revamping the entire aviation safety and airspace management ecosystem.
In contrast, Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong is located near the Karnafuli River, surrounded by relatively low-density terrain. In the event of a failed takeoff or crash landing, the aircraft is more likely to impact open space or water than urban infrastructure. While not ideal, it offers a safer balance between accessibility and disaster mitigation. This suggests a viable model for designing Bangladesh’s next major airport. While not a long-term alternative, the Chittagong example underscores the importance of terrain and spatial planning in mitigating urban aviation risks, a principle that Bangladesh must now incorporate into its future airport strategy.
HSIA remains locked within a high-density residential and commercial matrix. The neighbourhoods of Uttara, Banani, Kurmitola, and even parts of Mirpur lie directly beneath the airport’s critical takeoff and landing corridors. In the event of a crash similar to Ahmedabad’s, the risk to civilian life remains unacceptably high.
Dhaka’s airport operates under constraints which exacerbate safety risks: Short emergency zones, crowded airspace, and visual obstructions from urban high-rises. A plane experiencing technical failure shortly after takeoff has no viable emergency landing zones, only rooftops, roads, and homes below.
Beyond safety, HSIA suffers from technical and logistical limitations that make it unsuitable for next-generation air traffic. It cannot accommodate large aircraft, restricting its potential as a global transit hub. The single-runway design results in delays and inflexibility. With limited runway overrun areas and no space for parallel taxiways, HSIA is operating near maximum capacity, with limited room for expansion under current constraints.
Potential sites where the airport could be relocated:
The chosen site should span over 10,000 acres to accommodate future expansion, aerotropolis zones, and logistics hubs.
Relocating the airport also necessitates robust connectivity so that people can arrive at the airport on time from anywhere in the country, especially from Dhaka city. Recommended actions include:
Examples like the Istanbul New Airport demonstrate how distant airports can thrive when supported by integrated transit systems. Opened in 2018, about 40 kilometers from central Istanbul, it is connected by the M11 metro line, express buses, and planned high-speed rail, ensuring sub-35-minute commutes for passengers. The airport's transit-oriented design has enabled it to quickly become one of the world’s busiest air hubs despite its remote location.
Relocation presents an opportunity to design a next-generation airport guided by international best practices in safety, efficiency, and sustainability, like:
Runway and airspace: The new airport must have two or more parallel runways, designed with Runway Safety Areas (RSAs) of at least 300m and EMAS beds for overrun safety. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), AI-assisted air traffic management, and digital control towers should be installed for smarter, safer airspace management
Emergency infrastructure: ICAO Category-10 compliant fire stations, foam-drenching systems, and an on-site trauma and isolation facility are essential to handle crashes or health emergencies
Passenger and cargo experience: Biometric immigration, touchless boarding, UV sterilization, and multilingual AI kiosks must be standard. For cargo, cold-chain storage, automated loading bays, and drone-compatible logistics hubs can create new export pipelines
Environmental intelligence: The terminal must utilize solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and greywater recycling systems. Runway-adjacent bird detection radars and noise mapping zones should protect both wildlife and residents. Delhi’s IGIA bird-strike detection radar offers a precedent
Universal accessibility: Braille signs, wide corridors, moving walkways, and auditory navigation systems must be incorporated to benefit passengers with disabilities and older people
The new airport should reflect the values of resilience, inclusivity, and sovereignty. Bangladesh has the opportunity to build an airport that is not only larger but also safer, more sustainable, and future-ready.
To make the entire process sustainable, land acquisition and construction for the new airport must follow transparent and socially responsible protocols, ensuring that affected communities are treated fairly and equitably. This includes providing land-for-land swaps or adequate financial compensation to displaced residents, implementing climate-resilient construction methods and low-carbon architectural designs, and investing in community development initiatives such as building local schools, healthcare clinics, and vocational training centers to support long-term economic inclusion and social wellbeing.
Bangladesh urgently needs a comprehensive civil aviation master plan that outlines the strategic relocation and phased closure of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), establishes legally enforced air corridor zoning and no-build zones beneath critical flight paths, and promotes public-private partnerships to develop integrated rail, energy, and logistics infrastructure. This forward-looking vision needs to be endorsed by Parliament and executed through close coordination between the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), and the Ministry of Planning to ensure alignment with national development goals.
The Ahmedabad incident serves as a timely reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by rapidly growing urban centers like Dhaka. Taking preemptive steps to enhance aviation safety -- through relocation and modernization -- offers a strategic opportunity to safeguard lives, support economic development, and align national infrastructure with global safety and sustainability standards.
Shaikh Afnan Birahim is a postgraduate student of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow.