Airports The British government of India had built military airstrips near Tejgaon (now a busy industrial area) during the Second World War for operating warplanes towards the war fields of Kohima and other Burmese war theatres. Tejgaon airport became the first airport to operate civil aviation in East Pakistan and it was also a station of the Pakistan Air Force. A number of other British built military airstrips in Bangladesh territory were also converted into civil airports, although a few others with landing facilities are yet to be made so. The airstrips not yet converted into civil airports are at lalmonirhat, thakurgaon, feni, Rajendrapur, Pahar Kanchanpur, chakaria and Rasulpur. Almost all upazilas have emergency helicopter landing facilities.

Soon after the Second World War broke out the British authority felt the need of constructing Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) stations in dhaka and other vulnerable places in Bangladesh area. The construction of Tejgaon Airport at a place named Dainodda started in 1941 and the building of a landing strip at Kurmitola (Balurghat) started at about the same time. The British Air force used the airstrip for safe up-keeping their aircrafts. The airstrip at Tejgaon and Kurmitola had military fighter plane landing facilities.

There was also an American airforce detachment here during the war period. The first RIAF light fighter (airframe covered with fabrics) landed on the under construction runway of Tejgaon at the beginning of 1943 and after development of the airport facilities, it became the first civil airport of the present area of Bangladesh. Apart from the British air force, the Ispahani group and its partners used the airport for operation of an airliner named orient airways established by them in 1946. After the birth of Bangladesh, both domestic and international flights started operations from Tejgaon Airport and within a few years the government started construction of a full-fledged international airport at Kurmitola around the British built airstrip.

In 1947, the Orient Airways operated two types of carriers from Tejgaon airport. These were a DC-3 (Dakota) and a DHC-6 (twin otter). Very soon the Pakistan International Airlines was formed as the national flag carrier to fly within the country and abroad. Consequently, the government took over both military and civil aviation and made them public sector activity and the Orient Airways had to close its operation.

In 1948, the government had established Eastern Pakistan Flying Club to train local youths in the field of piloting. In 1956, a branch of the Flying Wing of the Plant Protection Department was established in East Pakistan. Tejgaon Airport became gradually busy with flights of planes of these agencies as well as of the PIA, which had acquired piston engine aircrafts like Dakotas and Convairs and super constellations converted to turbo propeller type of aircrafts like Viscounts and Fokker. Later, jet aircrafts like Boeing, Comet and DC-8 were added to the fleet. The airport also served foreign airlines including British Airways and Pan American Airways. PIA started its Boeing jet services in 1960. The Civil Aviation Authority and Airport Development Authority had to upgrade Tejgaon airport for accommodating traffic in accordance with international standards. The domestic airports in operation in East Pakistan during the Pakistan period were located at jessore, chittagong, Thakurgaon, ishwardi and comilla.

The airports under Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) at present are the three international ones - the Zia International Airport (Kurmitola, Dhaka), Osmany International Airport (sylhet) and Amanat Shah Airport (Chittagong) - and the domestic ones at barisal, jessore, saidpur, rajshahi, Shamsher Nagar (Sylhet), cox's bazar, Ishwardi (now not in use) and comilla. New airports to be constructed eventually are those at bogra, bagerhat, tungipara, hatiya, ramgati, and noakhali. (see map in air transport)

biman bangladesh airlines, the national airliner of Bangladesh was established on 4 January 1972 as Air Bangladesh International. It started its operations with Fokker F-27 (Friendship) and ATP planes. Later, it procured wide body turbo jets and some other types of aircrafts for international flights. In the year 2000, it had five DC-10s, three F-28s, three Airbuses, and two ATPs of its own, and one DC-10 and one Airbus on lease. A few private airlines are also in operation.

Because the Tejgaon Airport proved to be too small to cater to the requirements of the increased traffic, the Zia International Airport (ZIA) was constructed. The new airport was opened for operations in 1981, when the Tejgaon Airport was handed over to the Bangladesh Air Force. ZIA has relatively spacious terminal buildings, hangers, technical areas, a freight village (warehouse) etc, and other modern amenities and equipment. ZIA connects almost all the major cities of the world with Bangladesh. From here the Bangladesh Biman operates domestic and international air services. In 2000, ZIA and the two other international airports of Bangladesh had regular flights to 31 destinations in 4 continents. They are Calcutta, Kathmandu, London, Dubai, Bangkok, Karachi, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, Singapore, Jeddah, Doha, Amsterdam, Kuwait city, Athens, Tripoli, Mascot, Kuala Lumpur, Rangoon, Dhahran, Rome, Baghdad, Bahrain, Paris, Frankfurt, Sarjah, Narita (Tokyo), Riyadh, Malta and New York.

The airports now in operation in Bangladesh provide flight services to about 0.5 million passengers travelling within the country and to about 0.7 million travelling abroad. The annual volume of cargo transported by the country's airports accounts for about 35,000 MT, more than 90% of which is transported abroad.

Table Private Airlines in Bangladesh (with dates of ATOL issue)

Source Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh started issuing operating licenses to private airliners since 1996. The Air Wing of the Plant Protection Department and the Flying Club work in coordination with CAAB. Operating offices of some private civil airlines had been established in the premises of ZIA and Tejgaon airports. These require permission from the CAAB for using other airports.

At present, private airliners operate short take off and landing (STOL) types of aircraft for their domestic flight. These airlines are now running domestic flight from Tejgaon/Zia Airports to Comilla, Barisal, Chittagong and Shamshernagar. ZIA has commercial links with and provides landing rights to many national and transnational airlines, including those of Pakistan, India, Japan, UK, USA, Kuwait, KSA, China, Germany, Bhutan, UAE, France, Russia, Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand, Nepal, Maldives, Indonesia, Australia, Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Scandinavian countries, Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, Republic of Korea and Switzerland.

[Syed Mohd Saleh Uddin]

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