Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka হযরত শাহ্জালাল আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর, ঢাকা | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of Bangladesh | ||||||||||
| Operator | Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh | ||||||||||
| Serves | Dhaka | ||||||||||
| Location | Kurmitola,Dhaka-1229,Bangladesh | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1981; 44 years ago (1981) | ||||||||||
| Hub for | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 27 ft / 8 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 23°50′34″N090°24′02″E / 23.84278°N 90.40056°E /23.84278; 90.40056 (Shah Jalal International Airport) | ||||||||||
| Website | hsia | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  DAC Location of airport in Bangladesh | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2019) | |||||||||||
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| Source: Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh[1][2] | |||||||||||
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Dhaka (Bengali:হযরত শাহ্জালাল আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর, ঢাকা,romanized: Hôjôrôt Śāhjālāl Āntôrjātik Bimānbôndôr;IATA:DAC,ICAO:VGHS, formerly VGZR) is the maininternational airport servingDhaka City, the capital city ofBangladesh, and it is the largest airport in the country. It is located inKurmitola, 17 km (11 mi) from thecity centre, in the northern part of Dhaka. The airport is also used as a base for theBangladesh Air Force, namedBAF Base Bir Uttom A. K. Khandker. The airport has an area of 802 hectares (1,981 acres). TheCivil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) operates and maintains the airport. It started operations in 1980, taking over fromTejgaon Airport as the principal international airport of the country. The airport was formerly known asDacca International Airport and later asZia International Airport, before being named in honour ofShah Jalal, who is one of the most respectedSufi saints of Bangladesh. TheIATA code of the airport,"DAC", is derived from "Dacca", which is the previously used spelling for "Dhaka".
It is the primary hub of most of airlines in Bangladesh includingAir Astra,Novoair,US-Bangla Airlines, and the national flag carrierBiman Bangladesh Airlines. The annual passenger handling capacity of the airport is 18.5 million passengers,[3][4] and this passenger handling capacity is predicted by CAAB to be sufficient until 2026.[5] In 2014, the airport handled 9.1 million passengers and 248,000 tonnes of cargo.[6] Average aircraft movement per day is around 190 flights.[7][8]Ground handling at the airport is provided byBiman Ground Handling, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.[9] The airport has multiple First Class and Business Classexecutive lounges operated by Five Star hotels, such asIntercontinental Dhaka; Bangladeshi companies such asEastern Bank Skylounge[10] orCity Bank American Express Lounge;[11] as well as local and foreign airlines.
The airport is located in Kurmitola, 11nautical miles (20.37 kilometres; 12.66 miles) north of downtown Dhaka.[12] It can be accessed by the eight-laneAirport Road.[12] To the north of the airport liesUttara area andGazipur city, whileDhaka city lies to its south. There is a railway station immediately outside (facing) the airport namedAirport Railway Station.[13][14] Lots of Bangladeshi and international ride sharing and ride hailing apps or companies operate vehicles to and from the airport such as Obhai,Pathao, Shohoz,Uber, etc. There is also a taxi kiosk, located near the exit gate of the international arrivals concourse hall, where one can order a taxi and pre-pay the taxi fare. The airport has been almost engulfed by the city, due to the expansion and development work of real estate companies and the government, prompting the authorities to construct a third terminal and consider building another international airport elsewhere in Dhaka district.[15]
In 1941, during theSecond World War, theBritish government built a landing strip at Kurmitola, several kilometres north ofTejgaon, as a spare landing strip for theTejgaon Airport, which at the time was a military airport, to operate warplanes towards the war fields ofKohima (then inAssam) andBurmese war theatres.[16][unreliable source?][17]
After thePartition of India in 1947, Tejgaon Airport became the first civilian airport in what was thenEast Pakistan (present dayBangladesh). During the1965 Indo-Pakistani war, the then abandoned airstrip was bombed byIndian Air Force, thinking it to be the Tejgaon Airport as the base.[18] In1966, a project was taken by the thenPakistan Government to construct a new airport, and the present site north of Kurmitola was selected. A tender was floated for the construction of the terminal building and the runway under the technical support of French experts. A rail station (present day Airport Railway Station) was also built near the site for the transportation of construction materials. The new airstrip was halfway done when theBangladesh Liberation War broke out in1971. During the war, the airstrip suffered severe damage.[citation needed]
After independence, theGovernment of Bangladesh restarted works abandoned by the previous contractors and consultants during the war. The government decided to make the airportBangladesh's main international airport and appointedAéroports de Paris of France as its new consultants. The airport began operationsin 1980 after the main runway and central portion of the present terminal building was formally opened by thenPresident of BangladeshZiaur Rahman (assassinated in 1981) asDacca International Airport ("Dacca" is the former spelling of "Dhaka").[16][19] The project was completed in1983. Then PresidentAbdus Sattar re-inaugurated the airport asZia International Airport.[20]
In December 1993,Biman Bangladesh Airlines launched a route toNew York City viaDelhi,Dubai andAmsterdam. The flight was operated byMcDonnell Douglas DC-10s.[21] Biman later routed the outbound flight from Dhaka through Dubai and Brussels and the inbound one through Brussels. The company discontinued the service in July 2006.[22] In 2010, the government changed the airport's name once again, from Zia International Airport to the present name of 'Shahjalal International Airport', in honour ofShah Jalal, one of the most respectedSufi saints of Bangladesh.[20] The airport'sICAO code was also changed to reflect the name change, from VGZR to VGHS.[citation needed]
On 6 December 2011, aBoeing 787-9 (flight ZA006) stopped for refuelling at Shahjalal International Airport during a distance, speed, and endurance record attempt. This aircraft, powered byGeneral ElectricGEnx engines, had flown 10,710 nautical miles (19,830 km) non-stop fromBoeing Field inSeattle, Washington eastward to Shahjalal International Airport, setting a new world distance record for aircraft in the weight class of the 787, which is between 440,000 pounds (200,000 kg) and 550,000 pounds (250,000 kg). This flight surpassed the previous distance record of 9,127 nautical miles (16,903 km), set in 2002 by anAirbus A330. The Boeing 787 then continued eastbound from Dhaka to return to Boeing Field, setting a world-circling speed record of 42 hours, 27 minutes.[23]
In July 2022, Biman inaugurated a route toToronto using Boeing 787s. The flight from Dhaka to Toronto made a technical stop inIstanbul, the inbound flight was nonstop.[24][25] Four months later, the airline routed the latter via Istanbul as well.[26]
On 18 October 2025, a fire started at the cargo terminal of the airport forcing the suspension of operations at the airport for six hours. Multiple domestic and international flights were delayed or diverted due to the fire.[27]
In 1992, the airport terminal area experienced rapid expansion with addition of boarding bridges and equipment. A multistorey car park with space for 500 cars was also built at this time.[citation needed]
The airport has been set up and upgraded with technology and instruments worth৳70 million (US$570,000) up to the second quarter of 2012, by the CAAB. They includeinstrument landing system,distance measuring equipment and flight calibration system, which will help the operational standards of the airport. Two moreboarding bridges have been operational, and another is under manufacturing.Asphalt runway overlay began in December 2012 by the Bangladeshi company Abdul Monem Ltd;[28] it took six months to complete. Further improvements in thetaxiway andrunway lighting system will be made by funds fromDanish International Development Agency (DANIDA) worth৳4.5 billion (US$37 million). Further projects include primary andsecondary radar, a newcontrol tower and a modern drainage system.[7][29]
Parking facilities are being upgraded, both for passenger and cargo aircraft, of the airport extension works of passenger and cargo aprons are also going on.[8] The project will cost৳440 million (US$3.6 million) and will provide facility to park four wide-bodied passenger aircraft and two wide-bodied cargo aircraft side by side.[8] In recent years[which?], CAAB has completed modernisation and beautification of the two terminal buildings, constructed five aircraft parking bays, installed two more boarding bridges, re-installed a power plant to ensure 24 hours power supply, and added more passenger check-in and immigration counters and baggage conveyor belts.[8]
In recent years[which?], the internal designs such as concourse, toilets and other parts were also upgraded. The duty-free shops brought in international luxury branded products. As part of the development plan, the first international chain cafe,Barista Lavazza, was opened in the international terminal in 2014 followed byKrispy Kreme in 2017.[citation needed]
In October 2021, the CAAB entered into an agreement with the French company Thales LAS to construct a new advanced radar system at the airport. Valued at৳730.13 crore (US$60 million), this system will replace the decades-old existing radar, which lacks the capability to detect all aircraft flying over Bangladesh's airspace, particularly those over theBay of Bengal. The project aimed at achieving full surveillance of the entire airspace of the country is scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2024.[30]
On 28 December 2019, Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The construction work of the third terminal will be done byAviation Dhaka Consortium (ADC), which comprisesMitsubishi Corporation,Fujita Corporation andSamsung C&T Corporation.[31] The estimated cost of the whole project is৳21398crore (US$1.8 billion).[32][33] The terminal building was designed by Singaporean architect Rohani Baharin.[34]
The construction of the new third terminal of the airport was expected to be completed by May 2024.[35] TheJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided the financial assistance of৳16141crore (US$1.3 billion) for the project in the form of loans, while the rest of৳5257crore (US$430 million) was contributed by thegovernment of Bangladesh. The terminal will cover an area of 542,000 m2 (134 acres), including the passenger terminal with a floor area of roughly 230,000 m2 (2,500,000 sq ft); a 5,900 m2 (64,000 sq ft) square VVIP complex; a 41,200 m2 (443,000 sq ft) cargo building; and multi-level car parking building having a capacity of parking 1,044 cars, with a tunnel. Upon completion of the third terminal, the passenger handling capacity of the airport will increase to 24 million from the current 8 million per annum. 37 aeroplanes can be parked at the terminal at once. Cargo handling capacity will also increase to 500,000 from 200,000 tonnes annually.[36][37] A corridor will also be built to connect the new terminal with the two existing terminals.
Following delays in the construction work, the opening of the new terminal was delayed to mid 2025 then to the end of 2025 or 2026.[38]
Afeasibility study was conducted to add a parallel, secondrunway at a cost of৳10 billion (US$82 million) in 2014.[8] The project was undertaken to cope with rising air traffic, to take pressure off the lone runway, and to double the capacity of the airport. CAAB predicts that the airport's traffic will surpass 10 million passengers and freight. However, 60% of the airport's 2000-acre land remained unutilized in 2014.[39]
In July 2023,CAAB submitted its report toMinistry of Civil Aviation about the possibility of constructing a second dependent runway in the airport due to space constraints. In its report, the CAAB suggested constructing 3,292 m (10,801 ft) long-dependent runway with the existing runway to be extended to 3,692 m (12,113 ft). The new runway will not be used for take-off and landings simultaneously as the proximity between the two runways will be just 359 meters against theICAO mandated 1,035-meter space needed forILS-enabled runway. However, the second runway will be mainly used for taxiing or preparing for take-off during busy hours and will be used for take-off and landings in case the main runway remains closed due to an emergency or maintenance. The construction of the second runway is expected to be started after the completion of the third terminal in 2026 or later.[40]
The airport has three major terminals. Terminal 1 (T1) and Terminal 2 (T2) are for international flights, and they are located in the same building. T1, on the ground floor, is used as the international arrivals concourse hall. T2, on the first floor, serves as the international departures concourse hall. A third adjacent terminal building, known as the Domestic Terminal, is for domestic flights. This is located to the left of the international terminals. In the single-storey Domestic Terminal, both the arrivals concourse hall and the departures concourse hall are on the same floor.
Construction of the third terminal started in December 2019 and is still under construction.[8][35] According to the project design, the facilities of the terminal include 26boarding bridges, of which 12 will be built in the first phase and the remaining 14 at a later phase, 16conveyor belts, 115check-in counters including 15 self-check-in kiosks, 64 departure immigration desks, 59 arrival immigration, 3 VIP immigration desks and 10 automated 'e-gates' at the exit. For passengers' convenience there will be 12walkalators, 35escalators, and 43elevators.[41][42]
On 7 October 2023, the terminal was partially inaugurated, with 90 percent physical work being done, by the then Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina. However, due to delays in decision making regarding issues like logistics, ground handling, training, system calibration etc., Terminal 3 is not expected to enter into operation until at least 2026.[38]
A VIP terminal building is located to the right of the international terminals. The VIP terminal is built only about 200 metres (220 yards) from the main gate. However to make way for the construction of the new third terminal, the demolition of the VIP Terminal commenced in April 2023. A temporary terminal has been constructed to provide VIP services, and the VIP services will be shifted to the Third Terminal in the future.[43]
There is a cargo terminal at the airport which has a capacity of 200,000 tons per annum. This will be increased to 500,000 tons after the completion of the ongoing renovation and expansion project.[44]
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