Bangladesh
Runway Runway in the ocean: Aircraft will take off this year
Dhaka, July 21: When the plane touches the ground, the passengers from above will feel like they are landing in the ocean. There are very few airports in the world that give that feeling. That dream of a beachy runway is now visible in the country. Within this year, airplanes will fly to Cox's Bazar through the runway inside the sea. Eighty percent of the project is almost completed. When this runway is completed, it will be the longest runway in the country.
In 2012, the Civil Aviation Authority planned to upgrade Cox's Bazar Airport to an international airport. The first and foremost task in that master plan is runway and terminal expansion. The work of both started in 2021. China Civil Engineering Construction Company Limited gets runway extension work. Due to the lack of space on the opposite side and the plan to have a spectacular runway, it was decided to build the runway inside the beach.
About Tk 1900 crore are being spent on the runway alone. The extended runway is almost ready bit by bit by raising the land on the seashore to protect the port from the waves by putting huge concrete embankments.
Li Guangchi, manager of Cox's Bazar runway expansion project, said that the development of land by draining sea water, building embankments, protecting them, building boundary walls and sidewalks on the sea shore were big challenges. Corona disaster is a big obstacle in this. Hoping to finish everything before the deadline.
The current runway length of Cox's Bazar Airport is 2.74 km; It is being extended by more than half a kilometer. The total length will be 3.2 km. This runway will be 200 feet bigger than Shahjalal International Airport. Now because the runway is small, big planes including Boeing cannot take off here.
Cox's Bazar runway expansion project coordinator Mosharraf Hossain said, we are making the runway by filling the estuary in the sea. When the plane lands, a beautiful view will be available. The Chinese company implementing the project wants to complete all the works by September this year. So that the aircraft can take off through Sagarika's runway by December.
