PM Tarique chairs meeting on Dhaka airport's third terminal

Discussions focus on bringing the facility into operation as quickly as possible

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has chaired a meeting on the long-delayed third terminal at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, with a focus on bringing the facility into operation as quickly as possible.

The meeting began on Sunday afternoon at the Secretariat.

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Afroza Khanam, State Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Mostafa Mahmood Siddiq were present.

A CAAB official who attended the meeting said that discussions were expected to centre on the terminal’s progress and ways to make it operational at the earliest opportunity.

The third terminal project was taken up in 2017 under the then Awami League government, with construction beginning on Dec 28, 2019, at an estimated cost of Tk 213.98 billion.

The facility was partially inaugurated on Oct 7, 2023, by then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. At the time, CAAB had said the terminal would be fully operational in 2024, but that deadline passed.

Despite repeated efforts by the interim government, the terminal has yet to be launched. Officials have cited unresolved decisions on ground handling and operational matters, as well as technical faults in parts of the building, as reasons for the delay.