Bangladesh News

Bangladesh misses the opportunity of earning over Tk 400 crore extra yearly as more than 60 percent passenger-handling capacity of Zia International Airport (ZIA) remains unutilised.

Aviation experts and industry insiders said the earning of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) from ZIA would be tripled if the airport’s full capacity could be utilised as more international airlines want to operate from here.

CAAB’s income from ZIA was Tk 220.71 crore in 2006-07 fiscal year and Tk 160 crore in 2005-06, said CAAB Chairman Air Commodore Sakeb Khan Majlis.

Operation of more international airlines would have also created employment opportunities at the airport.

Experts blamed the government’s protective policy about Bangladesh Biman, inefficiency in ground handling at ZIA and lack of marketing initiatives for missing these opportunities.

With its present infrastructure, ZIA is capable of handling around 85 lakh passengers yearly while 150 planes can take off and land at the airport every day.

But, according to an analysis of last five years, ZIA has handled 32 lakh passengers yearly on an average with 50 flights carrying around 8,500 passengers to different international destinations daily, sources in the civil aviation ministry and CAAB said.

The analysis found 30-35 planes land and take off at the airport during the peak hour from 6:00am to 12:00noon. Only 20 or less aircraft operate during the rest of the day, said a member of an inter-ministerial committee formed to prepare a feasibility study on allowing low-cost airlines to operate from ZIA.

Maximum utilisation of ZIA could be possible by allowing more flights during off-peak hours, he said, adding that the government can earn huge revenue from aeronautical and non-aeronautical services including landing, parking and route navigation with the existing facilities.

Requesting anonymity, a CAAB official said, “Biman’s capacity has decreased because of the management’s inefficiency although increase of passengers has been significant. Foreign airlines have increased their fares taking this advantage.”

Allowing more airlines could bring all of them to a competition, which could ultimately result in the decrease in airfare and improvement of service standards.

“Biman cannot carry even 20 percent of Bangladeshi passengers going to different Middle Eastern countries,” he said, adding, “We cannot ignore the interests of our workers for the interest of Biman since expatriate workers contribute to the national economy much more.”

Criticising the government’s protective policy for Biman, aviation expert Kazi Wahidul Alam said the number of Biman’s carriers has come down to 11 from 17 at the time when the number of passengers is increasing around 2-2.5 lakh every year. Interestingly, only six or seven of Biman’s carriers operate at a time.

“The ground handling equipment should also be modernised and if needed, private handling agents should be appointed at ZIA,” said Wahidul, editor of The Bangladesh Monitor, an aviation and tourism magazine.

He also criticised the government for not having any marketing initiative for ZIA or other airports of the country. “All airlines, whether low cost or legacy, must be allowed to operate for the sake of competition,” he added.

The government, however, has not been interested in allowing the airlines that charge low fare to operate from ZIA. “Each passenger could save over Tk 6,000 if they flew by these low-cost carriers, which are widely used in many countries,” said an official of such an airline.

According to a CAAB official, Air Asia, Air India Express, Air Arabia, and Jazeera Airways of Kuwait applied to the government for operating from ZIA.

When contacted, the CAAB chairman said they have now become “quite liberal” in allowing more airlines to operate from Bangladesh.

He said they are trying to sign the Bilateral Air Service Agreements with more countries and review the existing ones to increase flights of both sides. “We are also trying so that the local private airlines are allowed to operate from other countries,” he added.

Sakeb Khan said CAAB asked Biman to improve ZIA’s ground handling quality. “We may also allow private agents to work at ZIA or it may be a joint venture of Biman and private agents for better services.”

Asked about allowing the low-cost airlines, he said, “We prefer that these airlines operate from the Chittagong Airport, considering the traffic congestion in Dhaka.”

He said, “We shall take concrete decisions on the basis of the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee conducting the feasibility study n allowing low-cost airlines.”