Saipur Airport, (IATA: SPD, ICAO: VGSD) is a domestic airport located in Saidpur, Nilphamari, Bangladesh. Saidpur is a city of Nilphamari district in Rangpur division, and Syedpur Airport is the northernmost airport in country. It has started started journey as a domestic airport in 1979, which now handling roughly 30 flights daily in Dhaka-Saidpur-Dhaka route.
Saidpur Airport
The city was established based on the Syedpur railway workshop established in 1870 by the British Colonial regime, which was the major railway workshop for Assam-Bengal railway, Saidpur gradually became an important communication hub for adjoining major district headquarters. The city is the commercial hub for the surrounding districts.
The airport is currently undergoing major upgrades and expansion, and is expected to serve international flights between Nepal and Bangladesh, to strengthen trade and tourism between the two countries. After this upgrade, it would make this airport the fifth international airport of Bangladesh.
Airlines and destinations
There are currently 3 airlines operating to Saidpur. The airlines operate regional turbo-prop aircraft, namely the ATR 72 and Bombardier DHC-8-400.
Flights to Nepal
In February 2020, the governments of Bangladesh and Nepal began negotiations to allow Nepal to operate flights directly to Saidpur from Nepal to strengthen the trade between the two countries, and attract tourism. As of March 2021, direct international flights to either Biratnagar or Bhadrapur Airport in Eastern Nepal from Saidpur have been proposed, pending completion of the currently ongoing upgrade and expansion of Saidpur Airport.
Upgrade and expansion
In 2018, the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has started the work for expanding Saidpur Airport in Nilphamari to upgrade it to international standards. For the continuation of expansion work, the ministry has acquired 912 acres (369 ha) of land from Saidpur municipality and from Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur. The current runway will be expanded to 12,000 feet (3,700 m) from 6,000 feet (1,800 m), making it one of the biggest runways in the country.
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