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Download PDF The council of advisers yesterday decided to review the 2005 deal to hand over the operational management of Chittagong Shah Amanat Airport to Thai Airways in light of the airport’s recent adoption of the new Open Skies system.
The weekly council meeting also decided to ratify the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) agreement on mutual administrative Assistance in customs matters at the next Saarc summit, informed the Chief Adviser’s (CA) Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim at the post-meeting briefing at the CA’s office.
“The council of advisers had a detailed discussion on whether the agreement with Thai Airways would be beneficial to Bangladesh after the airport started operation under the Open Skies system,” said Fahim.
He said the advisers will send the matter to the law ministry to examine whether the clauses of the 2005 agreement will still apply under the new system.
“The government will consider the options after examining the legal aspects of the agreement and whether it will be profitable to the country,” the press secretary said.
He affirmed the agreement will
not be cancelled and can be modified in a number of ways, including the addition of a supplementary agreement.
The agreement is yet to be implemented and the airport remains under the management of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Qualifying for the Open Skies system opens up the airport to all international air carriers to apply for landing rights.
Fahim explained that when the deal was signed with Thai Airways in 2005, airlines from the western hemisphere were not allowed to apply for landing rights to the airport.
However, after the Shah Amanat Airport met all the ‘prerequisites’ during the tenure of the present caretaker government, it adopted the Open Skies system, he said.
He could not provide details of the prerequisites or on which specific date the airport had adopted the system.
Asked about reports in several newspapers that the caretaker government had taken the decision in principle to revive the National Security Council, Fahim said he was not aware of such a decision.
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