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Bangladesh is in talks with Boeing, Airbus, Singapore and several other countries and organisations to develop Lalmonirhat as a major maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub for the aviation industry, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Afroza Khanam Rita has said.
The government also plans to turn Lalmonirhat Airport into a hub for the country’s aviation industry, she said.
The minister made the remarks on Tuesday afternoon at a training workshop organised by the Bangladesh Aviation and Tourism Journalists Association (BATJA) at the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB).
“We are discussing with Boeing, Airbus, Singapore and several other organisations and countries the development of Lalmonirhat Airport as an MRO industry for maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft,” Rita said.
“We hope to reach a decision very soon,” she added.
The minister said the initiative would help create a skilled workforce for the aviation sector and establish internationally standard maintenance facilities in the country. It would also create new employment and investment opportunities around Lalmonirhat.
Rita urged journalists to scrutinise the government’s performance and point out its shortcomings while also highlighting positive developments in the aviation sector.
On the construction of the third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the minister criticised the previous Awami League government, saying it had left the project in a poor state. She also said the subsequent interim government had failed to take effective steps on the matter.
Despite the challenges, the current government is working to open the terminal within the scheduled timeframe, she said.
“The prime minister wants to open the third terminal on December 16. We are also making every effort to meet that target,” Rita said.
Asked whether the third terminal was necessary, the minister said it was a project initiated by the previous government but the existing terminal’s limited capacity had made the expansion necessary.
Rita also alleged that the previous government had used the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry as a subsidised sector for personal interests.
The minister said the government was also working on plans to establish a new flying academy to train talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds as pilots.
In coordination with the Welfare Trust of the Bangladesh Air Force, the government plans to establish an aviation academy where poor and underprivileged students will receive free training as pilots and in other aviation-related fields.
The trainees would repay the costs after securing employment, she said.
Rita expressed hope that the initiative would help address the shortage of pilots in the country while creating employment opportunities for Bangladeshi aviation professionals abroad.
The two-day training workshop was organised for aviation and tourism journalists. On the first day, Air Commodore Md Nur-e-Alam, member of the Air Traffic Control division of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, and aviation expert Wing Commander (retd) ATM Nazrul Islam conducted the training sessions.
PIB Director General Faruk Wasif and Biman Bangladesh Airlines Director General of Public Relations Mohiuddin Ahmed, among others, spoke at the inaugural session.