Rashidul Hasan

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has been nothing short of a travellers’ nightmare for over a week.

The Jatiya Party will emphasise enacting a law on the formation of the Election Commission during its dialogue with President Abdul Hamid, the party leaders said.

Hundreds of passengers had to endure what they said was mismanagement at the Dhaka airport over the last two days following the introduction of an eight-hour daily closure of the lone runway.

Expressing concern over the high airfare to different Middle Eastern destinations, the expatriates’ welfare ministry yesterday sent a letter to the civil aviation ministry to take measures for reducing the air ticket prices.

Airfares for flights to different Middle Eastern countries have doubled since last month, adding pressure on migrant workers returning to their workplaces.

The runway of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport will remain closed from 12:00am to 8:00am every day from December 10 for six months and some carriers fear there could be service disruption at the airport.  

Bangladesh Airlines’ Pilot Association yesterday demanded reinstatement of Captain Mahbubur Rahman, a Boeing 787 pilot who was sacked from Biman on Tuesday.

The environment ministry yesterday agreed to its watchdog’s recommendation to shut down the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate immediately as it has been running without environmental clearance for the last 10 years and it lacks the facilities to treat all its liquid waste. 

Over 1,500 passengers, who need a Covid-19 negative certificate six hours prior to flying to the UAE, start crowding the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport every day since morning.

The numbers of candidates set to be elected unopposed and rebels from the ruling Awami League in the third phase of union parishad polls are higher than in the first two phases.   

Airfares of different domestic routes in the country have increased two to three times due to an influx of passengers trying to bypass a countrywide transport strike being observed since Friday.

A parliamentary body has asked the National River Protection Commission to prepare a list of grabbers and illegal structures in four rivers surrounding Dhaka that includes the Buriganga, the Turag, the Sitalokkha and the Balu rivers as soon as possible.

Aggrieved over pay cuts, pilots of Biman Bangladesh Airlines yesterday gave the authorities a four-day ultimatum to provide them with the salaries which they used to get before the Covid-19.

Repeated show-cause notices, warnings of punitive actions and even expulsions from the organisation have failed to deter Awami League leaders from participating in the local government polls without the party tickets.

Following a prolonged rough ride, driven by the pandemic, the country’s aviation sector is finally turning around as flight operations and the number of passengers flying from the Dhaka airport have almost tripled in three months. 

Two former officials of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Air Marshal (retd) Jamal Uddin Ahmed and Mosaddique Ahmed, were asked by a parliamentary body yesterday to submit written statements over their involvement in taking lease of two Boeing 777 aircrafts, which resulted in huge losses for Biman.

A parliamentary watchdog yesterday recommended giving compensation to victims of environment pollution from fines collected from polluters.

After around two decades and countless deadlines, a tannery estate with a fully functioning CETP that would ensure the environment is not ravaged by toxic waste is still a far cry from what was planned.

The competition for export orders intensified amid the pandemic and the airport authorities are not making the exporters’ lives any easier.

Shipping of garment products through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has slowed down again as the Explosive Detection Systems (EDSs) at the airport remained mostly out of order for almost three weeks.