Traffic to be limited at 2 points of Airport Road for 7hrs from Friday

Vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Balaka Bhaban and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport points will be restricted for seven hours from Friday night due to the ongoing construction of flyover in front of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA). Vehicles will be restricted at the points from 11:00pm on Friday to 6:00am on Saturday, according to a circular of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab).

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The Caab has also requested all heavy and goods-laden vehicles to use alternative road during that time. While talking to The Daily Star, a top official of the third terminal project said due to construction of the flyover, there will be a bottleneck in front of Biman's head office -- Balaka Bhaban -- and HSIA.

"Instead of eight lanes of the road, four lanes will remain operational," the official said. The official, wishing anonymity, also said such restriction of vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway will remain effective every Friday for another three months. Around 70 percent construction work of third terminal has already been completed so far and there will be a soft opening in October, Caab Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman told The Daily Star.

After the soft opening, it will take another year for the terminal to be fully operational, he added. The construction work of the third terminal, at a cost of Tk 21,399 crore, was inaugurated in 2019. Seventy percent of the cost is coming from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) as loan.

Mitsubishi and Fujita of Japan and Samsung of Korea are constructing the three-storeyed terminal building. Designed by celebrated architect Rohani Baharin, the terminal building will be on 2.30 lakh square metres. It will have 115 check-in counters, 64 departure and 64 arrival immigration desks, 27 baggage scanning machines, 40 scanning machines, 12 boarding bridges, 16 carousels and 11 body scanners.

There will also be new car parking facility for 1,230 vehicles, a new 63,000 square metre import and export cargo complex, a 5.42 lakh square metre apron for 37 aircrafts, among others.

Around two crore passengers will be able to use the HSIA following construction of the third terminal.

References

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