Airport in Bangladesh
Shah Amanat International Airport, Chattogram
(
IATA
:
CGP
,
ICAO
:
VGEG
) (
Bengali
:
??? ????? ??????????? ??????????
, ?????????,
Shah Amanot Antorjatik Bimanbondor ?hotto??am
) is an
international airport
serving
Bangladesh
's southeastern port city of
Chittagong
. Operated and maintained by the
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh
, it is the
second-largest international airport in Bangladesh
after
Shahjalal International Airport
in
Dhaka
, Bangladesh. It is used by the
Bangladesh Air Force
as a part of 'BAF Zahurul Haq Base'. It was formerly known as MA Hannan International Airport, named after
Awami League
politician
M. A. Hannan
, but was renamed on 2 April 2005 by the
Government of Bangladesh
, after an 18th-century Islamic saint,
Shah Amanat
. It is capable of annually handling 1.5 million passengers and 6,000 tonnes of cargo.
[3]
It also serves as a base for the Arirang Flying School.
[4]
Location
The airport is in the
Patenga
area of the city, 20 kilometres (13 mi; 11
NM
) west from the city's main commercial hub, GEC Circle and 18.5 km south of the city's railway station on the north bank of the
Karnaphuli River
. There are a few hotels or restaurants near the airport; numerous hotels and restaurants are available in the city.
[
citation needed
]
History
World War II
The airfield was built in the early 1940s under the British rule.
[
citation needed
]
Known as Chittagong Airfield during World War II, it was used as a supply point by the United States Army Air Forces'
4th Combat Cargo Group
. From the airport, they flew
C-46 Commando
aircraft to transport men and supplies between January and June 1945, during the
Burma Campaign 1944-1945
.
[5]
At the end of June, control of the airport was returned to local authorities.
[
citation needed
]
Bangladeshi airport
It officially became a Bangladeshi airport in 1972 after the
Bangladesh Liberation War
.
[6]
At first, it was mainly used for connecting
Dhaka
and
Chittagong
. But in the mid-1990s
Biman
started international flights to
Bangkok
,
Dubai
and all other major
Gulf
cities and it officially became an international airport.
[
citation needed
]
Expansion since 1998
In March 1998, a major renovation and expansion began, which ended in December 2000.
[6]
CAAB
received financial assistance from the
Japan International Cooperation Agency
for the US$51.57 million upgrade.
[6]
The project was carried out by Japanese firms
Shimizu
and
Marubeni
.
[6]
The upgrade modernised the terminal with new and better seats, more check-in counters, better security equipment and other facilities.
[6]
The
Air Traffic Control
tower received new hi-tech equipment such as 3D radar. The
runway
,
taxiways
and the
tarmac
were expanded and improved.
[6]
After the upgrade, aircraft such as the
Boeing 747-400
or the
Airbus A340
can land easily.
[6]
In June 2005,
CAAB
announced that the management of the airport would be awarded to
Thai Airways
, the national carrier of
Thailand
, for 10 years.
[3]
Thai Airways would be responsible of
catering
,
passenger check-in
,
ground handling
, cargo handling, and other technical services.
[7]
This, however, never materialized.
Biman and US-Bangla Airlines currently operate flights to Dhaka and various points in the Middle East. Domestic destinations like Sylhet, Cox's Bazar and Jashore have also been added. Foreign airlines include Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, Oman Air and Salam Air. Novo Air operates flights to Dhaka only. US-Bangla also operates flights to Chennai after originating in Dhaka.
Emirates SkyCargo
launched cargo services in 2013, making it the first scheduled cargo airline in the airport.
[8]
Infrastructure and operation
Terminal
The airport's sole
220,000 square feet (20,000 m
2
)
passenger terminal
is divided into two parts: International and Domestic with a boarding bridge in each.
[6]
The International part of the terminal is larger than the Domestic one due to higher number of passengers.
[6]
The building is divided into two floors: The lower floor is used for checking in, boarding or getting off small planes, and receiving luggage. The upper floor is used for boarding or getting off large planes only.
[6]
The airport also has a 29,063 square feet (2,700 m
2
) cargo terminal.
[6]
A new Lounge has also been created for American express card holders.
Control tower
The
air traffic control tower
is 50 meters west of the airport terminal. It has a clear view of the tarmac and taxiways but is far from the runway. Heavy rain or fog can make it difficult for controllers to see planes taking off or landing.
Runway
The airport has a single runway (05/23), which is 2,940 m × 45 m (9,646 ft × 148 ft).
[6]
The largest aircraft that can land is a
Boeing 747-400
.
[6]
Taxiways and tarmac
The airport has two
taxiways
, Alpha and Bravo, that directly leads to the
tarmac
(or aircraft parking zone) from the runway. The tarmac can accommodate a maximum of four aircraft; two
wide-body
Boeing 747-400s, a wide-body
McDonnell Douglas DC-10
and a
narrow-body
Airbus A320
can be parked there at once.
[6]
The airport has two
boarding bridges
and two passenger steps. The parking points are usually empty as most of the planes that arrive there take off soon after; the planes of local airlines are generally parked at
Shahjalal International Airport
overnight. A small civil plane hangar belonging to
Biman
is available but is rarely used.
The Bangladesh Military has a parking zone and two plane hangars east of the runway. The
Bangladesh Air Force
store a few planes here which have direct access to the runway.
[
citation needed
]
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Airlines
| Destinations
| Refs.
|
---|
Air Arabia
| Abu Dhabi
,
Sharjah
|
|
Air Astra
| Dhaka
| [9]
|
Biman Bangladesh Airlines
| Abu Dhabi
,
Cox's Bazar
,
Dhaka
,
Doha
,
Dubai?International
,
Jeddah
,
Jessore
,
[10]
Medina
,
Muscat
,
Sharjah
,
[11]
Sylhet
[12]
| [13]
[14]
|
flydubai
| Dubai?International
| [15]
|
Jazeera Airways
| Kuwait
| [16]
|
Novoair
| Dhaka
| [17]
|
Qatar Airways
| Doha
| [18]
|
Salam Air
| Muscat
| [19]
|
US-Bangla Airlines
| Abu Dhabi
,
[20]
Dhaka
,
Doha
,
Jessore
,
Kolkata
,
Muscat
,
Saidpur
| [21]
[22]
|
Cargo
Ground transportation
Shah Amanat International Airport can be easily accessed by car or taxi thorough the city's Agrabad and GEC area. It has three parking zones: one civil and two VIP. The civil one is in front of the terminal; it has a capacity of 400 cars.
[6]
This zone is usually loaded with public transport, mostly auto-rickshaws and micro-buses. The zone is made of concrete and asphalt, surrounded by a grass patch. Both VIP parking zones are beside the terminal, one left and one right. The one on the left is for people who work at the airport or one of the airlines, such as pilots or air traffic controllers. The other is used by the VVIPs.
[
citation needed
]
Incidents and accidents
- 1 July 2005:
Biman
flight BG 048 en route from
Dubai
skidded off runway 23 onto the grass while landing during heavy rain. The right-hand undercarriage of the
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
caught fire. Ten passengers were injured while exiting. Investigations found that the wheel-box of the aircraft went out of order. The aircraft was later written-off.
[24]
- 3 August 2017: A Bangladesh Navy
Dornier 228
aircraft on a routine training exercise veered off runway 23 after landing. No crew members were injured during the incident. The airport was closed for about 3 hours; a
Cessna 152
training aircraft landed safely on the opposite runway few minutes after the incident.
[25]
- 26 September 2018: A
US-Bangla Airlines
Boeing 737NG
aircraft bound for
Cox's Bazar
from Dhaka was forced to make an emergency landing when the pilots had difficulty in trying to lower the nose-gear. The aircraft carrying 171 passengers and crew, made an emergency landing at
Chittagong
, Shah Amanat International Airport at 1:45 pm local time.
[26]
No injuries and fatalities occurred as the flight crew, was able to evacuate the entire plane as emergency services rushed to the scene.
- On 25 February 2019, a
Biman Bangladesh Airlines
Flight 147 was subject to attempted hijacking. The
Boeing 737-800
, bound for Dubai via Chittagong, was carrying 143 passengers and seven crew members. The plane made an emergency landing at 5:41pm. The alleged hijacker was killed in a commando operation at Shah Amanat International Airport after all passengers were evacuated safely. It has emerged that the hijacker was mentally deranged and wanted to speak to his estranged ex-wife during the saga.
[27]
References
This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Air Force Historical Research Agency
External links
Media related to
Shah Amanat International Airport
at Wikimedia Commons
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