Work underway for smart aviation industry: Faruk Khan

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan on Sunday said that efforts are underway to transform the country's aviation industry to smart, efficient and service oriented one.

"To make Bangladesh's aviation sector into a smart one, we are emphasizing creating skilled manpower, developing infrastructure and modern security systems at all airports," he said, reports BSS.

The minister told a meeting with the representatives of foreign airlines operating flights to or from Bangladesh held at the Parjatan Bhaban in the capital, a press release said.

Emphasizing on the providing optimum service towards the passengers, Khan said that airlines should be alert for reducing unnecessary harassment of passengers.

"I believe, working all together, every airline can operate flights from Bangladesh more easily, safely and efficiently... It will be easy to fulfill the goal of transforming Bangladesh into a major aviation hub under the leadership of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina", he said.

Talking about the profit remitting of the foreign airliners from Bangladesh, Faruk Khan said the ministry is working with the Bangladesh Bank in this regard.

He said some portion of the airlines profit has already been remitted from Bangladesh while process is ongoing to increase the amount.

Besides, the minister assured that he will discuss with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) about the different taxation matters and easy and prompt custom clearance of aviation related equipment which are imported by the airlines.

Khan said the effort to upgrade Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) from Category-1 to Category-2 for Instrument Landing System (ILS) is underway for safe landings.

Besides, he said the ILS system has been installed in the airports in Sylhet, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.

Feasibility study of constructing the dependent runway of HSIA has been completed and soon the next phase of this work will start soon, he added.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mokammel Hossain, Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman and Biman Bangladesh Airlines CEO and Managing Director Shafiul Azim were also present, among others.