All kinds of fees, including landing, parking and housing charges have been increased in all the airports of the country, creating anger among airline operators.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has announced the hike in charges through a statement, saying the increased rates would be effective from July 28, according to banglanews.
The authority also increased the embarkation fee for outgoing passengers from Tk300 to Tk500.
CAAB said they had increased a wide range of fees, including boarding bridge, security, navigation facilities and flight notamised fees, adding that the fees had remained the same for the last 20 years.
However, the hike prompted anger among various airlines operators, who claimed that the authorities did not discuss the issue with them before the move.
They alleged that only after the decision was taken did CAAB member (operation and planning) Group Captain Shafiqul Alam sit in a meeting with the airline operators.
However, Shafiqul Alam could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.
An airlines official, requesting anonymity, said the new decision would increase their operational cost by 50%.
"We have no other option but to pass on the increased charges to passengers, which means plane fares will also see a hike," he added.
Another official of a foreign airlines said increasing the charges by 50% at a time was not the right thing to do.
Had the authorities raised the fees in different phases, the airlines could have easily conformed to it, he said.
Experts opined that the raise in charges would worsen the condition of the already troubled local airlines.
Previously, a Boing 777-300 ER-model airplane would be charged $8.5 for each tonne of shipment. That has now increased to $12.75.
Similarly, boarding bridge charge for a helicopter weighing below 100 tonnes was fixed at $100 while rates for 100-200 tonnes and 200-300 tonnes helicopters were raised to $150 and $250 respectively.
