Black_cats
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
- Messages
- 10,031
- Reaction score
- -5
Runway project to transform Cox’s Bazar into aviation hub
Travellers from Bangladesh will be able to go to different countries using this airport
Dhaka Tribune
Abdul Aziz, Cox's Bazar
December 5, 2022 12:09 PM
The construction of the country's first maritime runway in Cox's Bazar is going on in full swing and once completed, it will be the largest runway in the country which will also turn the city's airport into a regional aviation hub.
Officials involved with the expansion project hope that the new runway will bring more tourism and business into the city. Besides, travellers from Bangladesh will be able to go to different countries using this airport. The airport will also enable better air communication during any natural calamity, they added.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the operation of Biman's Boeing 737 at the airport's expanded runway in 2017. At the time, she directed an expansion of the runway further into the Bay of Bengal. Two years later, the expansion work began
The authorities further said that the construction of an international passenger building is also underway at a cost of Tk278 crore. The project is expected to be completed by June 2023.
The government has undertaken a mega plan to turn Cox's Bazar into a tourism hub. As part of the plan the government undertook the construction of the Matarbari power plant and deep sea port projects. Now the extension work will transform Cox's Bazar airport into a regional aviation hub, officials hope.
The Chinese joint venture of Changjiang Yichang Waterway Engineering Bureau (CYWEB) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been tasked with completing the project. Prime Minister
Under the agreement, the contractor will extend the existing 9,000ft runway by 1,700ft towards the Maheshkhali Channel through coastal land reclamation. Once completed, it will be the longest runway in the country while the length of the runway at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is 10,500ft.
A total of 290 hectares of land has been added to the total area of the airport through settlement and another 8.37 hectares were acquired.
New generation Boeing 777-300 ER, B-747, Airbus and other big planes will be able to take off and land once the runway is ready.
Project Director Md Yunus Bhuiyan said: “After the inauguration Cox's Bazar will be known to the outside world as the city with the longest runway in Bangladesh.”
He said that the Cat-2 AGL system installed on the runway will ensure smooth and safe flight and landing of aircraft.
Dhaka Tribune
Yunus Bhuiyan also said that an embankment has also been constructed to protect the runway from erosion during natural disasters at a cost of Tk15,689 crore.
He said that 42.65% of the project has been completed so far and the entire project is expected to be completed by October 2023.
Golam Mortaza Hossain, the manager of the airport, said: “We have expanded the flight schedule at the airport. Currently 25 to 30 passenger aircraft and 6 to 8 cargo planes are landing at the airport per day. It is also nearly ready for aircraft to land or take off at night.”
Runway project to transform Cox’s Bazar into aviation hub
Travellers from Bangladesh will be able to go to different countries using this airport
