Flights to remain suspended for 5 hours every night in HSIA
02 February 2023
Staff Reporter :
Flight operations will remain suspended for five hours every night from February 2 till April 3 at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka as the airport authorities are set to upgrade the runway lighting system.
As a result, flight take-off and landing in the runways at the HSIA will remain suspended from 2:00am to 7:00am for the upcoming two months due to renovation work.
At least 12 flights that operated in those five hours had been rescheduled, but flight schedules throughout the rest of the day would not be changed or disrupted.
Earlier in January, several thousand passengers had suffered as flight operations to and from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport badly disrupted due to dense fog amid forecasts of a continuing cold wave.
Taking the issues as important, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has taken the initiative to upgrade the Instrument Landing System (ILS) of Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and Cox's Bazar so that flights can land smoothly even amid dense fog.
Executive Director of the airport Group Captain Muhammad Kamrul Islam said, "We had seven toeight flights during this window, which were often diverted due to the winter weather. It disrupts flight operations. These flights have been shifted to other times of the day for the time being."
He, however, said that the number of flights will be increased from 7:00am to 11:30am and from 10:00pm to 2:00am due to suspension the flights between 2:00am and 7:00am from 2 February to 3 April.
Lights will be installed at the central line of the runway at the airport to enhance efficiency in management of flights and to increase services to the passengers, Muhammed Kamrul Islam said.
He also said a notice to air missions (NOTAMs) issued by the Flight Standard and Regulations (FSR) Division of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) in this regard.
The airport authorities have adopted a plan about flight management and other issues through coordination with the traffic division and other concerned government and private organisations operating at the airport to ease the passengers' movement, he added.
According to Muhammad Kamrul Islam, a monitoring team has also been formed to implement the plans. The passengers could face problems temporarily for the suspension of flights for five hours at night for two months and the airport authorities regret for this.
Domestic and international flights would operate as per the NOTAMs directives, FSR Division Director (Air Transportation).
