First ever Boeing 737-800 lands at Cox's Bazar airport with prime minister onboard

The new airport tarmac in Cox's Bazar has been opened after a Boeing jumbo jet landed with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on board.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 May 2017, 05:26 AM
Updated : 6 May 2017, 10:19 AM

'Meghdoot', the 162-seat Boeing 737-800 of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, landed at the beach resort town at 10am on Saturday.
 
The British-era airport is being used domestically. Only Dash-Q400 aircraft with 74 seats and smaller planes could use the airport until now.
 
The government has been developing the airport to an international standard as part of modernisation of Cox's Bazar as a tourism city and Moheshkhali as an investment hub.
 
With Saturday's landing of a large aircraft, the prime minister inaugurated the extended runway for the airport.
 
Cox's Bazar Airport's Manager Sadhan Kumar Mohanta told bdnews24.com the development work of the airport was scheduled to end within June next year. "Large aircraft like Boeing 747 or 777 will be able to land here." 
 
Biman spokesperson Shakil Meraj told bdnews24.com on Friday that the prime minister's travel to Cox's Bazar by the Boeing 737-800 is a 'milestone' in Bangladesh's history of aviation.
 
He said the national flag carrier would operate one flight with an aircraft of this model every week. It would increase the number of flights in the future.
 
Marine drive

After a brief programme at the airport, the prime minister went to Inani, where she inaugurated the 80 kilometres long marine drive linking Cox's Bazar and Teknaf.

The marine drive, which uniquely juxtapose with the world's longest beach at one side and hills on the other, is expected to attract more tourists.

Bangladesh Army has built the drive in three phases with more than Tk 10 billion.

After inaugurating the drive, the prime minister will take part in a rally organised by the ruling Awami League at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in the afternoon. She will also inaugurate and lay foundation stones of a number of projects in the district.‎

The projects she is inaugurating include Cox's Bazar Medical College, a hostel of Cox's Bazar Government Women's College and Cox's Bazar Government College each, a complex of Cox's Bazar Government College, a complex of Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib Women's College and Moheshkhali-Anwara gas line.

She will lay foundation stones of Cox's Bazar Airport Development Project (first phase), Cox's Bazar Medical College Hospital, Cox's Bazar IT Park, two floating LNG terminals in Moheshkhali, Naaf Tourism Park, and several other projects.
 
[Additional input by Staff Correspondent Golam Mujtaba Dhruba and Cox's Bazar Correspondent Shankar Barua Rumi]