Introduction and Overview

Shah Amanat International Airport (SAIA) is the second-largest international airport in Bangladesh after Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The airport is operated and maintained by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh. It is used by the Bangladesh Air Force as a part of 'BAF Zahurul Haq Base'. It was renamed on 2 April 2005 after an Islamic saint, Shah Amanat. It is capable of annually handling approx. 2 million passengers and 10,000 MTs of cargo. SAIA also serves as a base to Arirang Flying School. The airport is in the Patenga area of the city, 20 kilometres west from the city's main commercial hub, GEC Circle and 18.5 km south of the city's railway station on the north bank of the Karnaphuli River.

The airfield was built in the early 1940s under the British rule. Known as Chattogram Airfield during World War II, it was used as a combat airfield, as well as a supply point and photographic reconnaissance base by the United States Army Air Forces' Tenth Air Force during the Burma Campaign 1944-1945. After liberation initially it was mainly used for connecting Dhaka and Chattogram. But in the mid-1990s Bangladesh Biman started it’s international flights to Bangkok, Dubai and all other major Gulf cities and it officially became an international airport.

In March 1998, a major renovation and expansion began, which ended in December 2000. CAAB received financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency for the US$51.57 million upgrade. The upgrade modernised the terminal with new and better seats, more check-in counters, better security equipment and other facilities. The Air Traffic Control tower received new hi-tech equipment such as 3D radar. The runway, taxiways and the tarmac were expanded and improved. After the upgrade, aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400 or the Airbus A 340 can land easily. The Airport is ICAO certified in 2005.

Contact details of the Airport:

General Information of SAIA

Briefly Runway and Apron

Terminal building

The airport's sole 20,000 m² passenger terminal is divided into two parts: International and Domestic with a boarding bridge in each. The International part of the terminal is larger than the Domestic one due to higher number of passengers. The building is divided into two floors: The lower floor is used for checking in, boarding or getting off small planes and receiving luggage. The upper floor is used for boarding or getting off large planes only. The 2^nd Terminal Building is in the active consideration of authority.

Following are some dotted points of the existing Terminal:

• Modern concrete arrival / departure terminal capable of handling approx 2 million passenger per annum.
• 4 departure lounges with suitable seating areas capable of holding 1500 people in total.
• 16 check-in desks.
• 1 domestic arrivals hall and 1 large international arrivals hall.
• Overall size of the terminal building is 18,600m².
• Total number of Bays- 10 (6-Old and 4-New).

Control Tower

The Air Traffic Control Tower is 50 meters west of the airport terminal. This single ATC tower controlling both commercial and military operations. It has a clear view of the tarmac and taxiways but is far from the runway. Heavy rain or fog can make it difficult for controllers to see planes taking off or landing. At present total 16 civilian ATC staff supplemented by BAF controllers work here. They provide 24-hour ATC coverage; however, normal operations are 18-20-hour days. No traffic flow restrictions.

Taxiway and Tarmac

The airport has 2 taxiways, Alpha and Bravo, that directly leads to the tarmac (or aircraft parking zone) from the runway. The tarmac can accommodate a maximum of four aircraft; two wide-body Boeing 747-400s, a wide-body McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and a narrow-body Airbus A320 can be parked there at once. The airport has two boarding bridges and two passenger steps. The parking points are usually empty as most of the planes that arrive there take off soon after. A small civil plane hangar belonging to Biman is available but is rarely used.

The Bangladesh Military has a parking zone and two plane hangars east of the runway. The Bangladesh Air Force store a few planes here, which have direct access to the runway.

Runway Details

Airport Data

Airfield Details

Other information for passengers

Helicopter Pad

The Airport is also used by military aircraft for their normal operations and training purpose. They use Also helicopters beside other aircraft. In time of emergency this airport can very well be used for any types of helicopters. There is enough facilities for operating number of helicopters in any emergency situation.

Airport Performance (last 5 years)

Disaster Scenarios at the Airport

Airport Customs

• There is a good setup of Customs authority to take care of the Export/Import formalities through this airport.
• They are fully automated with their universal ASYCUDA World.
• Waivers can / will be issued by the central government via NDMA.
• Large customs area exists within the terminal building.
• Customs officers available 24 hours.
• Sufficient customs staff available for 24 hour operations, however, additional customs staff can be drafted in from the nearby port authority.
• The customs process and policies are under the jurisdiction of the Board of Revenue, not the Civil Aviation Authority.

Immigration

• Immigration officers available 24 hours a day.
• An emergency immigration procedure exists in the national disaster plan which allows for speedy processing of foreign aid workers. This plan will be enforced at the request of the NDMA.
• Sufficient immigration officials are present to perform 24 hour operations, however, if required, additional immigration staff can be drafted from the nearby port authority.

Cargo Handling Procedure and Storage Facilities

Cargo Handling

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is the authorised and responsible agent for handling all Cargo in regard to SAIA. As the airport is not hanlding huge cargo at the moment their arrangements for such operation is also at medium scale. Some times some private operators are also authorised and issued licence by CAAB to operate the cargo and other GSE matters in specific cases. How ever for conducting the present operations smoothly BB has following GSE equipment is place.

GSE Equipment

Storage Facilities

Warehouse: Though there is no Cargo Village as such like Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, but this airport has workable facilities. They have 2 warehouses connected to the aircraft apron by tarmac road. One concrete floor space of 2700 m² capable of accommodating 100 MT of freight which is divided into 9 caged areas of various sizes. All scanned cargo is stored in this warehouse from where cargo is delivered on completion of all necessary formalities. The newly built cargo shed is of approx. 3000 m² capable of accommodating 150 MT freight. This shed is still underutilized. Cargo received from Aircraft are stored here primarily and later shifted to the delivery warehouse for necessary checking and completion of formalities. Landside loading / offloading area providing capacity to park 36 trucks simultaneously.

Cargo operations are owned and controlled by Bangladesh Biman. May be mentioned that Catering facility is available within the landside truck parking area.

Cold Chain: Two large cold storage rooms (12’x10’ and 12’x11’) are in operation which can be accessed from the inside of the warehouse. They maintain temperature between -4⁰ to 10⁰ C to be used as Cold chain for preserving medicine and special items.

Airside loading area, partially covered, providing capability to load / offload 12 trucks simultaneously.

Temporary Warehousing Arrangements

• Though 2 Permanent Cargo warehouse are available, but in time of crisis there is ample opportunity to make temporary arrangements for storing cargo at the airport premise and nearby places.
• The GSE storage and maintenance facility could be made available within 1-2hours for storage and breakdown of air cargo. Approximate size is 800m² hard covered area plus an additional 1600m² of open concrete hard standing. GSE area is accessible by one airside / landside gate and tarmac road to apron.
• A large Red Cross warehouse is available within 1km of the airport facility and can be utilized during disaster relief operations.
• A large factory warehouse is available within 1km of the airport facility and can be utilized during disaster relief operations.
• Warehousing options exists at both the BAF and Naval military installations within 2km of the airport (BAF located on airport site).
• Lot of open space available on the eitherside of warehouses which can be used for cargo storage errecting temporary sheds (open concrete space, usually used for truck operations).
• Office space is available within the GSE building to facilitate distribution administration activity.

Development Projects

Future Development Works:

• Construction of parallel taxiway
• Extension of existing runway.
• Construction of two Boarding Bridge
• Construction of Cargo Warehouse.

Fuelling Arrangements

Padma Oil Company under the supervision of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is solely responsible for providing fuel to all kinds of Aircraft at Shah Aamanat International Airport. Arrangements are there to support a full fledget International Airport. The depot is co-located within Half a Km of the airport. Few salient features of this Aviation fuel provider are below:

Security Arrangements

• A large security presence exists on the airport with a significant number of airport security personnel.
• Security personnel are under the control of the airport manager.
• A dedicated police station exists within 1km of the airport.
• All access points are guarded by security personnel.
• Due to proximity of BAF military instillation, a large military presence can be drafted in to support policing if required.
• Temporary passes can be issued to airside workers within 30 minutes upon the directive of the NDMA.
• X-Ray screening for both passengers and cargo is in use.

For information on Bangladesh Shah Amanat International Airport contact details, please see the following link: 

4.5 Bangladesh Airport Contact List

Information on some aviation service providers can be found at: AZ Freight information on Bangladesh