Md. Aman Ullah:
Cox’s Bazar, the main tourist city of Bangladesh, is now going to be directly connected to international flight connections. Cox’s Bazar Airport will officially start its journey as a full-fledged international airport from next July. This will be the country’s fourth international gateway or entrance. To meet this goal, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is already on the verge of completing all necessary preparations including immigration and customs facilities. This important announcement was made by the Chairman of the CAA, Air Vice Marshal Md. Manjur Kabir Bhuiyan, at a coordination meeting held in Dhaka last Monday. High-ranking representatives of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Immigration Police, Customs Department and Airline Operators Committee participated in the meeting. After the meeting, a senior official of the CAA said that Cox’s Bazar Airport will be fully ready to operate international flights from next July. Biman Bangladesh Airlines has been given necessary instructions to launch international routes from Cox’s Bazar. The mega project was undertaken in 2021 to upgrade Cox’s Bazar Airport to international standards. Under this project, the runway is being expanded and a new state-of-the-art terminal building is being constructed. Once the project is completed, the airport will be able to operate flights 24 hours a day. According to unconfirmed sources, the construction of the 1,700-foot runway extended over the Bay of Bengal will be completed by July. As a result, the total length of the runway at Cox’s Bazar Airport will stand at 10,700 feet or 3.26 kilometers, which will set a new record as the longest runway in the country. Initially, international flights will be operated from the current terminal building. Later, when the newly built international terminal is opened, it will have all the latest facilities and will be able to handle large aircraft of any size effortlessly. The Bebichok Chairman further said that we are constantly closely monitoring and supervising the runway, lighting system, defense embankment and other infrastructural aspects so that there is no obstacle in the operation of international flights. The government’s long-term plan is to transform Cox’s Bazar into a world-class international tourism center like Bali in Indonesia. Tourism stakeholders hope that by connecting Cox’s Bazar Airport with international flights, it will emerge as a very important center of regional tourism and new horizons will be opened in the country’s tourism industry.
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