When a deal was signed with consultancy firms in June last year, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said that the construction of the third terminal building for the airport in Dhaka will begin in April this year.
But now they say it will not be possible before 2019.
The airport now has the capacity to handle around eight million passengers and 200,000 tonnes of cargo annually.
With a 9.5% yearly increase in passenger volume, the limit is expected to be crossed in 2018.
On Jun 11 last year, the CAAB signed agreements with four consultancy firms— Japan’s Nippon Co Ltd and Oriental Consultants Ltd, Singapore-based CPG Consultant Ltd and Bangladesh Development Design Consultant.
After construction of the third terminal, passenger handling capacity will increase to 20 million and cargo handling capacity to 500,000, the CAAB had said.
The then-CAAB chairman Ehsanul Gani Chowdhury told the signing ceremony that the construction will start in April 2018 and end on April 2021.
The consultancy firms have already filed the assessment reports, but they will supervise the whole process from the reviewing the design to the construction.
Sources at the CAAB said the expansion project will require relocating the existing cargo village, VVIP terminal, aircraft hanger and the oil depot.
Besides these, buildings leased to some organisations on long-term contracts have to be demolished. But the lessees moved the court, stalling the whole process.
“There a total of five cases. The hearings have finished with the verdicts pending,” CAAB Legal Affairs Officer AKM Nurunnabi told Bangla Tribune.
Apart from a 226,000-square metre terminal building, a new cargo village, VVIP complex, and rapid exit and connecting taxiways will be constructed under the Tk 136.10 billion project.
The project will be implemented through financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“We have expedited the process to float tenders and auctions as well as remove some existing structures to pave the way for the construction work,” CAAB Superintending Engineer AKM Maksudul Islam, who is also the director for the third terminal construction project.