Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
The government is planning to renovate and reopen Ishwardi Airport in response to demands from various quarters. State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali said this while addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday.
People of Ishwardi, Pabna, Natore and Kushtia have been demanding to reopen of closed airports for some time. Senior officials of the government’s mega Rooppur nuclear power project and foreigners also demanded speedy opening of the airport. Although the Awami League’s manifesto for the 2016 parliamentary elections and the 2020 re-election mentioned the opening of the airport, the government has not taken any action in this regard for a long time.
It is learned that a total of 436.65 acres of land was acquired for Ishwardi Airport. Of which 145.91 acres are in the possession of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh. So that the airport has terminal building, runway, taxiway, apron, navigation and connection equipment, officers’ residential area and access road to the airport.
The remaining 290.84 acres of land is currently occupied by the Bangladesh Army. State Minister Mahbub Ali said that if the land was handed over to CAAB, Ishwardi Airport would be renovated and reopened.
People are now turning to air travel to save time and energy as road congestion continues to increase on long roads. As a result, new cross-country long-haul domestic air routes have sprung up and all of them have witnessed load factors. At the same time, the demand for reopening of unused Ishwardi Airport is getting stronger.
The airport at Ishwardi in Pabna was established during the British rule. The first airport was closed in 1987 on various pretexts including losses. After a long hiatus, the airport was reopened in 1994 at a cost of about Tk 4 crore. After a long 17 years, in 2013, United Airways started operating flights from Ishwardi Airport. But after being on for 6 months and 11 days, it was closed again on May 29, 2014. Helicopters and Air Force training aircraft have occasionally been seen using it. But now the situation is different, said those involved in the aviation sector.
Alhaj Nuruzzaman Biswas, Member of Parliament for Pabna-4 (Atgharia-Ishwardi) constituency, said that new possibilities have emerged around Ishwardi Airport due to Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. Also noteworthy are Ishwardi EPZ, Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute, Regional Agricultural Research Center, Pulses Research Center, Pabna Sugar Mill, Pakshi Divisional Office of Railways, Alhaj Textile Mill, Thousands of Husking Rice Mills, Auto Rice and Fower Mills, Oil Mills. He said that due to Rooppur nuclear power plant, a large number of people travel to Ishwardi due to project officials and business reasons.
In this regard, US-Bangla Airlines’ Head of Marketing and Sales M Shafiqul Islam said that he was working with CAAB to reopen the country’s unused airport. So that they can start operating flights to and from airports. “If CAAB extends the runway of Ishwardi Airport only 500 meters, then we can conduct flight operations at and from the airport with small aircraft like ATR 72-600.” He claims that there is a huge demand for air travel on this route. Which is desperately needed now.
However, Biman’s marketing department GM Mohammad Salahuddin said that unless the CAAB renovates the airport and allows airlines to operate flights there, they cannot plan flights to and from unused airports. That is why the government is finally preparing to complete the formalities of renovation and reopening of Ishwardi Airport, the state minister explained in Parliament.
