Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has ordered the opening of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport soon, with the aim of improving the quality of passenger services and increasing efficiency in management.

Shahjalal currently has two terminals. Both of these terminals have an area of ​​100,000 square meters. The third terminal that is being opened is more than double the size of the current two terminals.

Its area will be 230,000 square meters. There will be a total of 37 apron parking spaces in the third terminal. As a result, 37 aircraft can be parked at once.

There are currently four taxiways at Shahjalal Airport. Two more high-speed taxiways are being added.

The Shahjalal Third Terminal construction project was approved by ECNEC on October 24, 2017. At that time, the cost was estimated at Tk 13,610 crore.

Later, the project size was increased by another 7,788.59 billion taka, bringing the total to approximately 21,398 billion taka.

Construction of the project began in December 2019. Most of the cost came from the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA).

According to the project approval decision, the work was supposed to be completed by April 2024. The third terminal is being built by three companies, Mitsubishi and Fujita of Japan and Samsung of Korea, through the Dhaka Consortium.

According to Bebichak, there will be 26 boarding bridges in the third terminal. 12 will be launched in the first phase. There will be 36 parking bays for aircraft.

There will be a total of 115 check-in counters, including 15 self-service check-in counters for departure. In addition, there will be 66 departure immigration counters, including 10 automated passport control counters.

There will be a total of 59 passport and 19 check-in arrival counters, including five automated check-in counters, at the arrivals area. In addition, 16 arrival baggage belts will be installed in the terminal.

A multi-level car parking building will be constructed along with the third terminal for car parking. It will have a parking space for 1,350 cars.

The terminal was partially inaugurated on October 7, 2023. At the time, Bebichak said it would be fully operational by 2024, although that was ultimately not possible.

Despite the efforts of the interim government, it could not be launched due to indecision regarding ground handling and management and some technical glitches inside the terminal building.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Afroza Khanam told reporters that it is not possible to say exactly when the third terminal will be fully operational at this time.

However, we are working and reviewing the terminal’s operations to start soon. The Prime Minister has taken special initiatives to start it soon.