The soft opening of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s third terminal is set for October 7 as decided earlier, Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said.

He said this today during a press conference at the construction site of Dhaka airport’s third terminal.  

According to him, the construction contract for the terminal was initiated in 2020, with a stipulated soft opening timeline of 1,471 days. 

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“Presently, as per the contract, 1,241 days have passed, leading to the decision to have a soft opening in advance, on October 7. The soft opening ceremony, to be attended by the prime minister, would be held inside the newly built third terminal. This decision was made so that citizens from across the country can witness the inauguration through the media,” he said. 

Regarding the progress of work, he said “Our target was to complete 90 percent of the work before the soft opening. Presently, it stands at over 88 percent. We are optimistic about completing 90 percent of the work before the soft opening of the third terminal.” 

“We’ve set a goal for the terminal's full functionality by December 2024,” he said, adding, “We hope the terminal will be fully operational before the scheduled time.” 

Responding to queries about manpower readiness for the new terminal, he mentioned an application was submitted to the ministry and training is ongoing for current staff members. 

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“A lot of the responsibilities of this project are not in our hands. A friendly country will assist in fulfilling the responsibilities, and preparations for immigration police and customs are underway,” the CAAB chairman added. 

Addressing queries on service quality, he said that the third terminal of Dhaka airport aims to enhance passenger experience and establish itself as a regional aviation hub. 

“The responsibility for passenger services will be entrusted to a foreign company; we have asked them to ensure standards comparable to globally renowned airports like Singapore's Changi,” he said. 

“We will enter an agreement with the foreign organization after confirming their ability to maintain the quality of services. Domestic stakeholders are also actively participating in training the workforce, and office space will be allocated based on requirements,” he explained.

In response to questions regarding the airport's readiness to operate the new terminal, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s Executive Director, Group Captain Mohammad Kamrul Islam, said, “We will collaboratively manage the third terminal, like any other airport in the country.”

The project, with an estimated cost of Tk 13,610.47 crore, got the nod of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on October 24, 2017.

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However, the cost of the project rose subsequently due to expansion of some of the project works, including setting up separate export and import cargo houses and construction of new VVIP terminal.

The project’s additional fund was approved by ECNEC on December 10 last year.

The three-storey third terminal building, designed by Rohani Baharin of internationally renowned CPG Corporation (Private) Limited Singapore, will have a floor space of 2,30,000 square meters.

It will have 115 check-in counters, including 15 self-service; 66 departure immigration counters, including 10 automatic passport control counters; 59 arrival immigration desks, including five automatic check-in counters; 19 check-in arrival counters; and 16 arrival baggage belts.

According to the project design, the third terminal of Dhaka airport will have 12 boarding bridges.