New State Minister for Aviation and Tourism Ministry Mahbub Ali on Tuesday said he would work for making Bangladesh as the aviation hub for both west and east Asia as construction of Bangabandhu Mega International Airport is on the cards.
"The site selection for the Bangabandhu international airport is almost completed. I will work for making the new mega airport as aviation hub for both west and east," he told journalists, after holding his first meeting with officials of Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) at its headquarters in the capital, reports BSS.
About the site selection, the new state minister said the new mega airport would be constructed somewhere near Padma multipurpose bridge.
Ali also said currently the CAAB is fully prepared to face final audit of the FFA to be upgraded to category-1 that paves the way to resumption of Dhaka-New York flight.
A Category 1 rating by US Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) means that the civil aviation authority complies with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. Presently, Bangladesh has Category 2 rating.
"The CAAB has taken all preparation as per the compliance requirement of the FAA. Now we are waiting for their final technical inspection team," said the state minister.
Ali said the first inspection team visited Bangladesh last year and the second team will visit within March next. "I do believe we can satisfy the inspection team," he said.
As per the procedure, if everything will be up to the mark during the second inspection, the FAA will send final audit team after six months to certify CAAB as the category-1, CAAB official sources said.
"The resumption of Dhaka-New York flight is one of the government's commitments and I hope, we will be able to do it shortly," the state minister said.
Biman used to operate the Dhaka- New York route until 2006 but stopped the service for commercial reasons. Later, Biman's attempts to resume operation could not succeed due to CAAB's non-attainment of FAA Category 1 status.
Ali said he would give highest priority to ensure foolproof security at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA). "We will revise the procedure of issuing security pass for the HSIA," he added.
The state minister said he would also give priority to improve the ground handling efficiency of HSIA to check all harassment of the passengers.
He called upon all employees of airport and Biman Bangladesh Airlines to work with utmost sincerity as they are involved in a service oriented work. "No negligence in providing service will be allowed," he warned.
Later, the state minister visited different parts of HSIA.
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