Saidpur to be key transit point airport for connectivity

The government has initiated expansion of the Saidpur Airport with the view to turning it into a key transit point to boost regional connectivity involving Nepal and Bhutan and facilitate more domestic flights with rearrangement of runway and terminals.

Currently, the airport is located on 135 acres of land with necessary runway to facilitate domestic flights. Established in 1979, different airlines at present operate some 12-14 flights to Saidpur Airport from Dhaka. In the expansion plan, the airport will get 850 acres of fresh land for establishing new runway and terminals. After expansion, the airport's capacity will grow manifold as planned.

The ministry of civil aviation and tourism is working on it following a Draft Project Proposal (DPP) forwarded to the ministry from the civil aviation authority of Bangladesh (Caab) a couple of weeks ago.

"We are working on it. A team comprised of officials from the ministry and Caab have visited the airport today," Md. Mohibul Haque, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, told Daily Asian Age last evening.

He said, "We need two separate DPPs. One for the expansion of the airport and the other is for land acquisition which is associated with rehabilitation. We are assigned to expand the airport and readying all necessary facilities."

Caab chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said the process of the airport expansion has been started and they are looking for cooperation of the ministry for moving forward.Rahman said he accompanied the minister for civil aviation and tourism Md. Mahbub Ali, who led a delegation one and a half month ago and visited the airport.

He held talks with deputy commissioner of Nilphamari district on the issues of land acquisition and rehabilitation.He said the airport will have a new design and its outlook will be changed through the implementation of the scheme.He said India will finance the airport expansion project under the Line of Credit (LoC) funds for Bangladesh.

Regarding use of the airport by Nepal, he said it is a facility and Nepal expressed her interests to use it. He said the government is also interested to extend the airport facility for Nepal for mutual benefit.

"Not only Nepal, Bhutan can also use it as per the government's policy to promote connectivity for greater economic cooperation," he added.He said taking the advantage of the Saidpur airport, Nepal can launch cargo plane to carry goods for their citizen.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday offered Bangladesh's air and seaport facilities to Nepal's visiting foreign minister Pradip Kumar Gyawali during a call-on at the Prime Minister's Office for mutual benefit.

The premier's press secretary Ihsanul Karim told media that her government was elevating Saidpur Airport as an international aviation facility expecting it to be a centre for regional connectivity.

"PM told him that Nepal and Bhutan can use the Saidpur Airport (and) Chattogram and Mongla ports for the mutual benefits," Karim told media.

The PMO spokesman said cooperation in power sector, bilateral trade and commerce also featured the premier's meeting with the Nepalese foreign minister.

Dhaka is campaigning for enhanced regional connectivity, particularly under The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative of the eastern South Asian nations. Since its founding on June 15, 2015, the BBIN promises to accelerate connectivity of transport, electricity and infrastructure among member nations.

Earlier, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters that his government will allow Nepal to use Saidpur airport for mutual benefit. His disclosure came following a meeting with the visiting Nepalese counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Tuesday. 

Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar also told media in Dhaka "We have discussed how the two countries can develop connectivity, transit, transport and power sector cooperation".

This Airport is located at 2 kms off Saidpur town and 350 kms off Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The Airport is only 15 minutes flight from Nepal's Bhadrapur and Biratnagar airports. Bangladesh citizens can travel to and from Nepal at significantly lower costs and time if Nepalese flights can operate from Saidpur Airport.

The number of people of visiting Nepal from Bangladesh is relatively higher than visitors from and Nepal. But, trade interests in Nepal are higher for Bangladeshi businesses.The current volume of bilateral trade stands at only $ 50 million, which is insignificant but can be higher once connectivity is accelerated.