Committee formed to fix airport devt fees

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has formed a committee to fix security and airport development fees of the country. Abul Hasnat Md Ziaul Haque, additional secretary to the ministry, will lead the committee while representatives from the Ministry of Finance, CAAB and all local airlines including the state-run, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, will be on the committee, said a source. The decision has been taken at a meeting held at the Civil Aviation Ministry on Sunday. According to an official of the ministry, they did not finalise the fees in the face of opposition from the airlines, rather they decided to fix it through a committee led by an additional secretary. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB), guardian of all the airports in the country, took a decision to impose security and airport development fees at its 225th management meeting. CAAB proposed Tk159 for domestic passengers and $20 for foreign nationals as security and development fees. The imposition of security and airport development fees would be a burden for passengers, industry insiders said, adding that the government should review the proposed fees.