‘Feasibility study of Bangabandhu Int’l Airport underway’

Replying to a tabled question from treasury bench member Gazi Golam Dastagir during the Q&A session slated for the PM on Wednesday, the prime minister said Nippon Koei Co Ltd is conducting the feasibility study of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib International Airport while land acquisition is going on for Khan Jahan Ali Airport in Bagerhat. According to different media reports published last year, the government has preliminarily selected three possible sites, two of which are in districts close to Dhaka and the other inside Dhaka district. Those are- Char Janajat of Shibchar in Madaripur, which is around 75km from the capital, as a possible site for the airport, Keyain in Munshiganj's Sirajdikhan and Char Bilashpur in Dhaka's Dohar. On September 21 last year, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) struck a Tk120cr deal with Nippon Koei Co Ltd to conduct feasibility studies, selecting the site and making a master plan for the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib International Airport. Under the agreement, CAAB will pay for the studies from its own funds and the Japanese firm will finish its job in a year and a half. An imaginary illustration of the proposed Bangabandhu International Airport Dhaka TribuneBangladesh has three international and 12 domestic airports. At least 38 airlines use Bangladeshi airports. In 2011, Arial Beel in Munshiganj was selected to build the Bangabandhu International Airport. However, the government then had to backtrack facing violent protests by locals, leaving a policeman dead and many locals and law enforcement personnel wounded. In February that year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced that a new site will be picked on the south side of the Padma.