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A total of 9,000 old security passes will be suspended by Nov 30, the airport authorities say
Published : 18 Nov 2024, 07:28 PM
Employees or stakeholders will not be able to enter Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport after Nov 30 using previously issued security passes.
Those associated with the airport, airlines or government agencies are henceforth required the new Aviation Security Identification, or AvSecID.
A total of 9,000 old passes will be suspended by Nov 30, the airport authorities said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, or CAAB, took an initiative last year to digitise 17,000 airport security passes to control the movement of employees at the airport.
This will be done through an app called 'AvSec ID System'.
The movement of officials inside the airport can also be controlled through this pass. As a result, the pass holders will not be able to move outside their zone of responsibility even if they want to.
CAAB announced on Nov 12 that all old airport security passes will be deactivated after the deadline, as per the Airport Pass Policy 2020.
Access to the airport will require the new AvSecID per the guidance issued on Dec 6, 2022.
This initiative is a part of CAAB’s commitment to enhancing security procedures and ensuring compliance with international standards, the statement read.
The notification, signed by CAAB Member (security) Air Commodore Mohammad Nayeemuzzaman Khan, said the ASSEC personnel at the airport would deny entry to individuals without possession of new AvSecID.
When contacted, Nayeemuzzaman told bdnews24.com: “We estimate the number of old passes to be around 9,000. Dual passes will no longer work from now on. Everyone will have to submit the old pass and get the AvSecID.
“The process of issuing the new pass has already begun. However, it was delayed due to the political circumstances in the country."
The CAAB first introduced AvSecID at an event in May last year.
Abu Saleh Mahmud Mannafi, the then CAAB member (security), said as many as 20,640 security passes have been issued at the airport in the last 50 years.
Out of them, 3,307 passes were cancelled for various reasons.
The new app has been launched to bring the remaining 17,333 security passes used by the employees of 429 government and private organisations working at the airport under digitalisation.
The airport authorities have managed to list a total of 71 agencies in the last eight months.
CAAB authorities said the airport requires a lot of labour force such as cleaners and workers. There are also instances of crimes being committed by entering the airport with a security pass.
They believe such misuse of the pass in the AvSecID system can be prevented.
