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Osmani International Airport

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Osmani International Airport (IATA: ZYL, ICAO: VGSY) is located five miles north-east of Sylhet in Bangladesh serving as the country's third international airport. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and is served by Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national airline which earns most of its revenue from this airport,[1] GMG Airlines, the first private airline in Bangladesh and United Airways (Bangladesh), the first British-Bangladeshi owned airline to operate domestic services in Bangladesh. Royal Bengal Airline is also expected to launch domestic services to the airport by the end of 2007.

The vast majority of passengers using the airport are expatriate Bangladeshis and their descendants from the Sylhet Division living in the United Kingdom.

History

Osmani International Airport was built during British rule of the Indian Subcontinent, partly to check Japanese aggression from Burma.

The airport was formerly known as Sylhet Civil Airport but was re-named after General M A G Osmani, a Bangladeshi Independence War hero. General Osmani was born in Sylhet in 1918 and served as the Supreme Commander of the Mukti Bahini (Freedom Force) and Bangladesh Armed Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Expansion

The airport was initially served by domestic flights from Zia International Airport by the country's national airline Biman Bangladesh Airlines. After many years of lobbying by expatriates living in the UK, limited expansion of the airport was carried out to enable medium-sized aircraft, such as the Airbus A310 used by Biman, to operate. The work was completed in October 2002 and the airport was designated an international airport by the government. However, the airport was not up to international standards to be capable of fully accommodating international flights due to many shortcomings with the instrument landing system and runway lighting system and was seen as a move to stave off pressure from the government.

Nevertheless, on 3 November 2002, the airport received its first international arrival. Biman flight BG020 from Kuwait via Abu Dhabi landed at 10:05 with 215 passengers en-route to Dhaka.[2] The disembarking passengers on the inaugraul flight were greeted by then Finance & Planning Minister, M Saifur Rahman and State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin. For a brief period, Biman also operated a direct service from Londonbut was later re-routed via Dhaka.

Additional expansion of the runway and improvements to the runway lighting and airport facilities were commenced in 2004 to enable wide-bodied aircraft to safely land and takeoff from the airport.[3][4]

It is interesting to note that with all the previous expansion works, no other wide-bodied aircraft (apart from the Airbuses operated by Biman) have landed at the airport.

The South Asia Transport and Trade Facilitation Conference report of 2006 (by the United States Trade and Development Agency) noted that the development of the airport "up to the standards of [an] international airport" to "encourage private sector participation in air transport" were projects that were under consideration by the government.[5]

Work started in 2006 to upgrade the terminal facilities to enable handling of international flights. The improvements include construction of a new terminal building, a Jetway and a taxi-way.[6] In May 2007, the foreign affairs adviser, informed journalists that the works were on scheduled for completion in June 2007.[7] He also confirmed that Biman will be operating Hajj flights directly from the airport during the Hajj season later in 2007.[8] However, the runway expansion works had not been completed in June with the foreign afairs adviser indicating in August that "minor dressing work" still remained. The expansion of the terminal building is also not expected to be completed before June 2008.[9]

However, due to the lack of an instrument landing system certified at CAT II and a proper runway lighting system, the airport will still not be able to operate in low visibility conditions that occur frequently during the winter months.

Two UK based airlines, Royal Bengal Airline and Air Sylhet, are seeking landing rights to the airport in order to provide a better service to the expatriate community in the UK. The CAAB has not, however, confirmed if it is willing to extend landing rights to foreign airlines as it will no doubt further undermine the viability of Biman.

Airlines and destinations

References

  1. ^ "Sylhet Osmani airport a nightmare for passengers". The Daily Star. 2003-07-13. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Biman launches Kuwait-Sylhet flight". Aviatour. 2002-11-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  3. ^ "Development of Osmani International Airport". Central Procurement Technical Unit. April 2005. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Upgraded Osmani International Airport opens up for traffic". South Asia Logistics. 2006-03-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. ^ "2006 South Asia Transport and Trade Facilitation Conference report (PDF)" (PDF). US Trade and Development Agency. 2005-10-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  6. ^ "Osmani Airport expansion work begins in July". The Daily Star. 2004-05-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ "Construction work of Osmani International Airport contract". Central Procurement Technical Unit. April 2006. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Runway expansion at Osmani Airport nearing completion". New Age. 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2007-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "ZIA soon to get upgraded runway". The Bangladesh Monitor. 2007-08-01. Retrieved 2007-08-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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