Cox’s Bazar Airport loses ‘international’ status just 11 days after upgrade

The resort town has its airport’s long-awaited "international" status stripped

The government has decided to suspend the gazette that declared Cox’s Bazar Airport as an “international airport”, just 11 days after the announcement was issued.

Sheikh Bashir Uddin, the interim government’s advisor on civil aviation, confirmed the decision on Friday.

“There’s been an official decision on this,” he told bdnews24.com.

On Oct 13, the government had issued a notification granting Cox’s Bazar the status of the country’s fourth international airport.

The plan to upgrade the airport in the coastal resort town to international standards began in 2021 under the Awami League government, as part of a broader push to attract foreign tourists and develop Cox’s Bazar as a global destination.

Under the project, the airport’s runway was extended from about 2,065 metres to 2,743 metres (6,775 feet to 9,000 feet).

Although the change of government created uncertainty over several development initiatives taken by the previous administration, construction at Cox’s Bazar Airport continued without interruption.

In March this year, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus visited the site to inspect progress.

Since then, Bashir and senior officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh have made several follow-up visits to review the work.

Despite the government’s enthusiasm to elevate the airport to international status, most airlines have shown little commercial interest in operating international routes from Cox’s Bazar.

While international flights operate from Chattogram and Sylhet to destinations in the Middle East and the UK, airlines do not consider flights from Cox’s Bazar commercially viable.

State-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines had planned to launch flights from Cox’s Bazar to Kolkata via Dhaka later this month.

But before that plan could take off, the airport has already lost its ‘international’ designation.