Osmani International Airport, (IATA: ZYL, ICAO: VGSY) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, is the third largest airport in Bangladesh after Dhaka and Chittagong. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) and is served by Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national airline, which at one point earned most of its revenue from this airport. Private airlines Novoair and US-Bangla Airlines operate domestic flights to Dhaka.
Osmani International Airport
History
Osmani International Airport was built during the British rule of the Indian Subcontinent, partly to check Japanese aggression from Burma. The airport was formerly known as Sylhet Civil Airport but was renamed after General M A G Osmani, Commander in Chief of Independence War of Bangladesh as well as of Muktijuddho in 1971.
The airport was initially served by domestic flights from Shahjalal International Airport by the country’s national airline Biman Bangladesh Airlines. After many years of lobbying by expatriates living in the UK, limited expansion of the airport was carried out to enable medium-sized aircraft, such as the Airbus A310 used by Biman, to operate. The work was completed in October 2002 and the airport was designated an international airport by the government.
However, the airport was not up to international standards to be capable of fully accommodating international flights due to many shortcomings with the instrument landing system and runway lighting system, and the designation was seen as a move to stave off pressure by the government.
Expansion and development
In April 2020, a Chinese company, namely Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) was appointed to construct a new terminal building including a cargo building, a modern equipped ATC tower, taxiway, apron and a modern fire station of the airport at a cost of ৳2116 crore (US$200 million). Post completion of the new terminal building the passenger capacity of the airport will be upgraded to 2 million per annum from the current capacity of 600,000 per annum. There will be six boarding bridges and thirty six check in counters in the new terminal building.
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