Third Terminal of HSIA may finish ahead of June 2023 schedule
Dhaka: The construction work of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's Third Terminal is ahead of schedule, M Mahbub Ali, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism said during his visit to the site to observe the construction work progress on June 5.
In June 2021, 14.5 percent of the work of Terminal 3 was projected to be complete. However, 17.5 percent of the work has been completed till now.
The state minister mentioned the size of the terminal would be more than double of the current airport and it will be connected to Ashkona Hajj Camp through a tunnel that will allow pilgrims to enter the airport directly from the camp.
The state minister further said the terminal's construction work did not stop for a day, even when the whole world was at a standstill amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The construction of this terminal is expected to be completed in June 2023. However, there is hope the work will finish ahead of schedule.
"Metrorail will be connected to the third terminal of the airport. A separate station will also be built. Through this, the passengers coming to Bangladesh will be able to go to their destinations by metro rail. Anyone will be able to go directly to the departure area of the airport from any station in Dhaka by metro rail," Mahbub claimed.
The construction work of HSIA’s Third Terminal is ahead of schedule – Photo: Monitor
Mokammel Hossain, Secretary to Civil Aviation Ministry; Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh; Dr. Abu Saleh Md Mostafa Kamal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Biman Bangladesh Airline; and other senior officials were also present during the state minister’s visit to the site.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in December 2019, inaugurated the construction work of the new terminal, which is expected to be modern, world-class, and more befitting to an aspiring higher middle-income country.
The three-storied terminal building, covering an area of 2.30 lac square meters, will be built by Mitsubishi and Fujita of Japan, and Samsung of South Korea.
It will have 115 check-in counters, 64 departure and arrival immigration desks, 27 baggage scanning machines, 40 scanning machines, 12 boarding bridges, 16 carousels, and 11 body scanners.
There will also be a new car parking facility for 1,230 vehicles, a new 63,000 square meter import and export cargo complex, a 5.42 lakh square meter apron for 37 aircraft, among others.
A water supply system, sewerage treatment plant, intake power plant distribution system, equipment of cargo complex, airfield ground lighting system, and hydrant fuel system are also included in the project, according to civil aviation ministry officials.
Around two crore passengers will be able to use the airport following Third Terminal’s construction, 70 percent of the funding for which is coming from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
At present, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport can handle eight million passengers a year. But the number of passengers is expected to reach 14 million by 2025 and 24.8 million by 2035
