Civil aviation and tourism minister M Faruk Khan on Tuesday said that the newly built third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport would be fully operational by the end of this year.

“I am satisfied with the progress… It is likely to be fully operational by the end of this year or early next year,” he told reporters at a briefing after visiting the new state-of-the art terminal in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

The minister said that the work on the new terminal is progressing within the stipulated time frame, despite the tough time caused due to the pandemic and global economic downturn.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the soft launch of the third terminal on October 7 last year. The project, involving Tk 21,300 crore, commenced on December 28, 2019.

Replying to a question, the minister said that construction of a dependable second runway for HSIA was under consideration to ensure the optimum use of the new terminal.

About the ground handling of the HSIA, he said that Biman Bangladesh Airlines, which had been enjoying the monopoly on that, would manage the ground operation under a joint venture with a reputed global service provider chosen by the Japanese consortium.

Civil aviation and tourism secretary Md Mokammel Hossain, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Air Vice Marshal Mafidur Rahman and Biman’s managing director and CEO Sazzad were also present.

The CAAB chairman said that the new terminal would be fully ready for use in October as system integration, calibration, and testing of equipment are done.

Aviation Dhaka Consortium, the contractor of the project, has already completed the physical work of the third terminal, which covers an area of 542,000 square metres, 230,000 square metres of floor space, 115 check-in counters, 66 departures, 59 arrivals, and three VIP immigration desks.

When the terminal is fully operational, the annual passenger handling capacity of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport will rise to 24 million from the current 8 million.

Cargo handling capacity—500,000 metric tonnes—will also multiply.

The government decided, in principle, to let a Japanese consortium under a public-private partnership operate and maintain the third terminal.

CAAB has already started discussion with a consortium of six Japanese companies.

CAAB will handle customs and immigration, while the Japanese company will manage the airport, ensuring the services needed from the time a passenger enters the airport to the time they board a plane.

The third terminal is designed to connect with a multimodal transport system to let passengers to enter and exit smoothly.

The new terminal will be connected with the elevated expressway, underground railway, and airport railway station through a tunnel.

Besides, hajj pilgrims will be able to access the third terminal from Ashkona hajj camp through another tunnel.