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Published : 09 Jul 2026, 09:48 AM
The Bangladesh government has drawn up an ambitious expansion plan to transform eight abandoned Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) ports into domestic airports to fulfil its electoral pledge of building a “National Air Connectivity Grid”.
Private airlines and aviation experts, however, remain highly sceptical about the commercial prospects of these ventures.
Aviation expert Kazi Wahedul Alam says he sees no possibility of these airports turning a commercial profit.
Novoair Managing Director Mofizur Rahman puts it more bluntly: "I don't think the scale of investment being planned for these is necessary."
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) currently lists 15 airports on its official directory, including three international hubs in Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet.
Of the remaining 12, work is under way at Cox's Bazar, Saidpur, Jashore, Rajshahi and Barishal.
Of the other seven, Tejgaon, Bogura and Shamshernagar airports require approval for commercial flight operations, according to the website.
Ishurdi, Cumilla and Thakurgaon are listed as "non-operational”, while an airport in Bagerhat remains under construction.
The government wants to prioritise turning Bogura, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Pabna's Ishurdi, Moulvibazar's Shamshernagar, Bagerhat's Khan Jahan Ali, Cumilla and Patuakhali's STOL ports into domestic airports.
Civil Aviation Minister Afroza Khanam outlined the plan for these eight airports during a parliamentary question session on Jun 18.
Built primarily by the British colonial government during the Second World War, these abandoned strips will require billions of taka to modernise.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury also outlined plans in his budget speech to elevate Bogura, Saidpur, Jashore, and Rajshahi into international gateways.
But airline operators and sector experts point out that of the country's three international airports, Chattogram and Sylhet still have not been fully upgraded to international standard.
Airlines are reluctant to operate international routes from anywhere outside Dhaka.
Questions are already being raised over what Cox's Bazar International Airport's massive spending has actually delivered.
The previous Awami League government spent Tk 15 billion upgrading Cox's Bazar's runway alone, with efforts to bring it up to international standard under way then and again now.
Yet sector insiders doubt any foreign airline will ever fly there.
And while four airports are being planned as international gateways, running even domestic flights reliably at most of them, barring Saidpur, remains difficult, raising further questions in aviation circles about how they could become international gateways at all.
Experts note that since the Padma Bridge cut road travel time to the south significantly, Barishal and Jashore flights have lost passengers.
Improved roads have similarly dented passenger numbers on the Rajshahi route.
As things stand, domestic airlines survive mainly on the Cox's Bazar, Saidpur and Sylhet routes.
Sylhet still draws passengers because its roads remain poor, but once they improve, allowing a four-hour drive from Dhaka, air travel demand there is expected to fall too.
Luxury or Necessity?
Novoair's Rahman believes the investment required to realise the government's plan will not be proportionate to what these airports will actually deliver.
"There's talk of making four new airports in Bogura, Saidpur, Jashore and Rajshahi international. But the commercial logic just isn't there. These will see very limited use, and I seriously doubt any foreign airline will come.
“I don't think the scale of investment being planned for these is necessary.”
According to him, Saidpur has some limited use as an international gateway for north India, Nepal and Bhutan, but domestic flights to Jashore and Rajshahi barely run as is, with one or two a week.
"On what basis would these become international? I can't find the logic. And we already have too little arable land in this country to justify building airports on this scale."
On Cox's Bazar, Rahman said: "Cox's Bazar isn't really a foreign tourist destination in that sense, it's purely a domestic one."
Among the eight new STOL ports, he sees some potential in Bagerhat, partly for economic reasons and partly for tourism.
The Bagerhat airport, named Khan Jahan Ali, has been listed as "under construction" for close to two decades.
Multiple efforts to build it were launched between 1996 and 2023, but work never started.
The site sits close to Khulna city and Mongla Port.
Explaining Bagerhat's potential, Rahman said: "There's been significant industrialisation there. There's also Sundarbans-centred tourism, and a port nearby.
“Those factors could support an airport in Bagerhat. But I don't see the logic for the others. The airports currently being planned will, in practice, see very limited use."
He added, "Ishurdi might see some use because of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, and Shamshernagar too, perhaps, but neither will become a proper commercial airport.
“They could work as STOL ports, but commercial operations there won't be viable."
The former Air Force official said, "We spend so much money on every project! Ultimately, it all comes from public tax money. This feels like a luxury to me.
“We should be building airports that are actually viable, that have commercial viability. I don't see any justification for the rest."
A senior official at US-Bangla Airlines, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to comment directly on the rationale for the Bogura airport's heavy spending.
He did note, though: "Flying time from Dhaka to Bogura would be under 20 minutes. But a passenger would still need to arrive at the airport at least an hour early.
“Between boarding, landing and airport formalities, the total journey from Dhaka to Bogura would take two to two-and-a-half hours."
"By road, Dhaka to Bogura currently takes three-and-a-half to four hours. Even now, passengers living in southern Dhaka prefer buses over flights to Chattogram, because getting from Jatrabari to the airport and catching a flight costs far more than a bus ticket, for barely any time saved."
He said Sylhet's domestic passenger numbers would likely fall too once its roads improve to the standard of those in the north.
Massive Investment, Zero Prospects
Wahedul Alam, a former board member of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, pointed to Cox's Bazar to illustrate his concerns about the government's plan.
"An international airport was built at Cox's Bazar. Tk 110 billion was spent extending the runway into the sea. What did that achieve? We damaged biodiversity.
“We turned Moheshkhali into a wasteland. We created a disaster in the Bay of Bengal. And now it turns out no airline is willing to operate international flights from that airport."
He said, "During the interim government, I saw the state ask every airline, including Biman, to launch at least one international flight from Cox's Bazar.
“Not a single one agreed, not even Biman, a state-owned airline.
"It's simply not a profitable route. For that route to be viable, you'd need the basic traffic, say 10,000 to 20,000 passengers a week travelling between Cox's Bazar and Europe or America."
Alam noted that Chattogram became an international airport 26 years ago, yet still does not see meaningful international traffic.
"Chattogram airport still isn't a properly, truly international airport. One or two foreign airlines show up occasionally, then leave again after a while. It's been coming and going like this, with no sustainable development.
"On top of that, Chattogram airport has practical problems. There's no taxiway, which makes manoeuvring difficult for airlines. There's no cargo complex, no proper security system, and many other issues besides."
His question - a huge share of Chattogram's population lives in the West Asia and elsewhere abroad. If Chattogram can't sustain international traffic, how can Cox's Bazar?
"Does Cox's Bazar have more residents than Chattogram? We still haven't managed a proper international airport in Sylhet either, even though a huge share of Sylhet's population lives across Europe and other countries."
He added, "Under the interim government, I saw the state decide to run cargo flights from Sylhet. Fine in principle. But who would actually operate cargo out of Sylhet? One flight was launched with much fanfare, then it stopped.
“If you're going to do this, you need to think it through realistically."
Calling for proper planning around the new airports, Alam said: "Every day now, the government says we'll build seven airports, we'll make four international, and so on. That's not how this works.
“An airport is a massive investment, and it needs to be properly planned. You can't pour money into building an airport first and plan afterwards. Here, we do everything first and plan later.
"Whether these airports will actually work, whether they'll be financially and commercially viable, and what potential exists on other fronts, all of that needs discussion with domestic airlines.
“Foreign airlines should be part of that process too, since they're the ones who would actually use these airports. Only then would this be realistic. Otherwise, it's putting the cart before the horse."
Govt Remains Upbeat
Since the BNP came to power in February, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has pushed to get the third terminal operational at Dhaka airport operational.
The civil aviation minister and state minister have since spoken of several plans to develop the aviation sector, including new aircraft purchases.
On Apr 30, Biman signed a deal with Boeing to buy 14 aircraft, at a cost of $3.7 billion, or Tk 454.08 billion, calculated at Tk 122.73 per dollar.
Among the new airport initiatives, Bogura has seen the most momentum.
Government officials have already visited Bogura Airport on multiple occasions.
Most recently, this month's budget speech brought fresh plans to make four airports international.
Ministers have repeatedly argued at different events that new airports will boost trade, tourism and investment in their respective areas, a claim sector insiders don't share.
Speaking at a CAAB event in the capital on Sunday, State Minister for Civil Aviation M Rashiduzzaman Millat said: "Under our prime minister's leadership, our government has taken active steps to make four domestic airports fully operational, including developing a new airport in Bogura.
"These strategic plans are transforming Bangladesh's aviation sector and paving the way for the country to become a regional aviation hub.
“These steps will also create new opportunities in trade, tourism, investment, connectivity and employment, which will ultimately contribute to the country's overall economic growth and sustainable development goals,” he added.
