Business leaders in Bangladesh have called on the government to introduce financial incentives and new facilities at Chattogram’s Shah Amanat International Airport, arguing that the airport is being significantly underused despite its strategic position and existing infrastructure.
Mohammed Amirul Haque, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, made the appeal in an urgent letter sent on 15 August to Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury MP.
The chamber has proposed round-the-clock airport operations and a 40% concession on airport facility charges, alongside measures to allow passengers to board and disembark during stopovers on long-haul flights.
It has also called for arrangements for transit and aircraft refuelling, as well as the development of cargo villages and inland container depot/container freight station facilities close to the airport.
Mr Haque said private-sector companies were prepared to develop the required infrastructure through public-private partnership (PPP), build-operate-own (BOO) or build-operate-own-transfer (BOOT) arrangements.
The proposals form part of a wider push to establish Chattogram as a regional centre for investment, trade and logistics and to reduce Bangladesh’s reliance on Dhaka as the country’s principal aviation gateway.
Airport capacity ‘substantially underused’
Chattogram is already one of Bangladesh’s most important commercial and industrial centres. It is home to the country’s principal seaport, major wholesale markets, export processing zones, special economic zones and a large concentration of industrial businesses.
Yet the chamber president argued that Shah Amanat International Airport, the country’s second-largest international airport, is not handling traffic commensurate with the scale of economic activity in the region.
He said the airport had the potential to handle substantially more passenger and cargo traffic, while attracting additional transit and connecting flights.
Developing Chattogram as an East-West aviation gateway could also strengthen tourism and logistics links across the wider region while helping to relieve growing pressure on Dhaka’s aviation infrastructure, he argued.
Call for lower tariffs
The chamber has drawn a comparison with the government’s approach to Mongla Port, where tariffs have been set below those charged at Chattogram Port as part of efforts to increase utilisation and make the port more competitive.
Mr Haque said a similar approach should be considered for Chattogram airport.
The business community believes a stimulus package or concessional tariff structure would make the airport more attractive to airlines, cargo operators and passengers and help unlock its unused capacity.
The chamber said such measures could contribute to the government’s wider ambition of transforming Bangladesh into a $1 trillion economy by 2034, while strengthening Chattogram’s position as a regional investment and logistics hub.
Mr Haque reaffirmed the business community’s willingness to support government efforts to achieve those objectives, saying private-sector participation could help accelerate the development of the airport and associated logistics infrastructure.