President of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Mohammed Amirul Haque has written to Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury seeking a range of measures, including concessional tariffs and transit and refuelling facilities, to unlock the full potential of Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram.
In the letter sent to the minister on August 15, the CCCI president proposed round-the-clock operations at the airport, a 40 percent concessional tariff on the use of airport facilities, permission for passenger take-on and drop-off during stopovers of long flights, establishing transit and refuelling arrangements for long-haul flights and the development of cargo villages as well as Inland Container Depot (ICD) and Container Freight Station (CFS) facility in the adjoining area of the airport.
He said private businesses are ready and willing to build this infrastructure themselves under Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Build-Own-Operate (BOO) and Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) arrangements.
Amirul said the business community will always extend its full support and sincere cooperation towards realising the government's vision of transforming Bangladesh into a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 and positioning Chattogram as a regional investment and logistics hub to tap its potential.
He pointed out that Chattogram already functions as one of the country's most important commercial and investment centres - home to the nation's principal seaport, major wholesale markets, several large export processing zones and special economic zones, and most of the country's industrial establishments.
But despite hosting the country's second-largest international airport with almost all the infrastructure needed to cater to users’ demand, Chattogram airport's capacity and prospects still remain substantially underused relative to the region's actual economic activities, the CCCI chief said.
The airport, he argued, has scope to handle a larger volume of passengers and cargo traffic and attract more transit and connecting flights than it currently does.
More broadly, developing Chattogram airport as an east-west aviation gateway and a bridging point for tourism and logistics will also help ease the mounting pressure on Dhaka-centric aviation traffic, the business leader said.
Drawing a comparison, he said the government, in its effort to make Mongla Port more dynamic and ensure its capacity to fullest use under its strategic master plan, has already set tariffs below those charged at Chattogram port.
The business community believes a similar arrangement should be applied for Chattogram airport.
“So, to attain desired economic growth of the country by utilising its fullest capacity and potential in attracting more passengers and cargo traffic, a lucrative stimulus package or concessional tariff needs to be fixed for the use of Chattogram airport’s facilities,” Amirul mentioned.