Dhaka airport still not fog-ready

Passengers are experiencing severe difficulties due to frequent flight diversions caused by low visibility amid dense fog during winter, as pilots are unable to land aircrafts in the absence of a Category 2 Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Dhaka airport.

Aviation experts said upgrading the airport's existing Category 1 ILS to Category 2 would resolve these issues entirely. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has yet to complete the necessary work.

ILS is a precision runway approach aid that relies on radio signals and high-intensity lighting arrays to provide pilots with both vertical and horizontal guidance during landings in thick fog.

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Upgrading ILS: Key to solving Dhaka airport's fog woes

Successive CAAB chiefs have assured that the installation of an upgraded ILS to ensure uninterrupted flight operations during winter would be completed soon. However, despite repeated promises, one winter has passed after another without the work being finished.

Flights are frequently diverted from Dhaka to airports in Sylhet, Chattogram, India, Bangkok, and even Malaysia when runway operations are suspended for hours due to low visibility, causing significant disruptions to flight schedules, according to officials of various airlines.

These diversions not only lead to passengers suffering, but also result in financial losses for airlines, which must bear the cost of extra fuel and various airport charges, including landing and parking fees, at alternative airports.

The disruptions also lead to delays across overall flight schedules.

"During this winter, we spent around Tk 6 crore so far due to diversion of our flights," said an official of US-Bangla Airlines.

A senior pilot of Biman Bangladesh Airlines said diverting a flight to another airport and returning to Dhaka requires a substantial amount of fuel, depending on the distance. "The additional take-offs and landings caused by diversions also lead to increased maintenance costs, as aircraft engines require overhauling sooner than expected," he added.

Captain Ashfaq Ur Rahman Khan, flight safety chief of Novoair, said the absence of ILS-2 forces airlines to waste time, energy, and money while passengers continue to suffer.

Captain Md Kamrul Islam, head of safety at Air Astra, said the Dhaka airport actually requires a Category 3 ILS system, as major airports, including Kolkata, already have Category 2.

Explaining the matter, Kamrul said a Category-3 ILS enables a pilot to land even in zero visibility.

Novoair Managing Director Md Mofizur Rahman said it's really disappointing that CAAB failed to upgrade the Dhaka airport's ILS to Category 2 even after years.

According to pilots, a minimum visibility of 800 metres is required for landing at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Upgrading the airport's ILS would involve the implementation of a highly accurate radio signal-based navigation aid providing horizontal and vertical guidance. One type of signal gives the glide path, while another indicates the runway's central line, offering pilots precise bearings for landing.

CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal Monjur Kabir Bhuiyan said nearly all procedural and mechanical work for the ILS-2 project, including the installation of runway lights, has been completed.

He said the final step involves acquiring an aircraft to assess and survey the system's functionality. Despite issuing open tenders three times, CAAB has not received any responses for the required aircraft. Efforts are ongoing to complete the task as soon as possible.