Mismanagement at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Leaves Passengers Facing Harassment, Suffering
Eklas Haque and Masud Parvez
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is the main, largest and most important international airport of the country. Every day, thousands of local and foreign passengers travel to different countries through this airport. It is the main route for expatriate Bangladeshis to come to the country and go back. The airport is important for the tourism, business, overseas employment and international connections of the country. Nearly 20 million passengers use Shahjalal International Airport every year. But many complaints have existed for a long time about this important international gateway of the country.
Chaos is growing in the airport area for many reasons. These include weak passenger service, trouble with luggage, harassment of expatriate passengers, problems in goods and cargo handling, a parking crisis and extra crowding. Ordinary people move freely inside and outside the airport. Too many relatives enter with one passenger going abroad, and a huge number of people gather to welcome a passenger returning from abroad. Passengers going abroad complain that an international standard airport should have order, safety and a passenger friendly environment, but Shahjalal Airport lacks all of these.
Expatriates who return after a long time abroad, women, children, old people and first time travellers face many kinds of trouble. The airport is also the main entry point of Bangladesh for foreign tourists, businesspeople, diplomats, investors and citizens of other countries. When a foreign citizen lands at the airport, the atmosphere there gives them their first idea of Bangladesh. So the order, cleanliness, safety and passenger service of the airport are linked to the image of the country. After landing, they face unnecessary trouble at different stages. Lack of information, long queues, long waiting, problems with baggage and poor coordination among different agencies increase their suffering.
For those who are returning for the first time, or coming back after a long time, the airport processes often seem complicated. Passengers who are used to modern and technology based airports abroad feel frustrated when they do not get the same service at home. This is what they say. Theft of valuable things by cutting open luggage is now a daily event, including foreign currency, gold, costly cosmetics and electronic goods. There are allegations that the irresponsibility, professional unwillingness and direct and indirect links of the people in charge of airport security are connected to these crimes.
Expatriates who return from the Middle East, Europe or America after years of hard work often see their dreams broken at the airport itself. A syndicate remains active in the time between unloading the luggage from the plane and its arrival on the belt. They cut open the locked luggage or travel bags of passengers and cleverly steal the gold jewellery, laptops, costly mobile phones and gifts inside. Sometimes the luggage disappears completely, and the victims get no clear remedy. Even after they complain to the airport authority, they get no result. Instead, they face delay and harassment.
The reporters saw a huge crowd in the departure area of Terminal 2 of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. People stood in groups with luggage and bags in their hands. In many places, private cars and CNG autorickshaws were parked and blocked the way. Every day, passengers going abroad and their relatives crowd the place. The ground floor of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 is in the same state. There is shouting, loud noise and calling, and the place is restless. Several family members come to receive one expatriate, and they keep their cars standing for a long time.
Members who are in charge of order and passenger safety inside the airport show a clear professional unwillingness and carelessness. While on duty, a large part of them keep their attention on mobile phones or personal chats. When passengers need urgent help, they often meet rude and impolite behaviour instead of cooperation. Crimes like cutting luggage take place without any obstacle, mainly with the help of dishonest groups, at the long points from airport ground handling and the cargo hold to the luggage belt.
Recently, strong anger arose in different circles about this luggage scandal and the constant harassment of passengers. The situation reached a point where a legal notice was even sent to the High Court. It demanded that the whole luggage handling process, from the cargo hold of the aircraft to the baggage belt, be shown to passengers through live CCTV cameras. Even so, there is no big improvement, because those concerned, including the Ansar Battalion, lack monitoring on the field and answerability is not ensured.
It is alleged that the suffering starts from the entrance of the airport. One of the most visible problems around the airport is excess crowding. Several family members come to the airport to say goodbye to one passenger going abroad. In the same way, a large number of relatives gather to welcome an expatriate who returns from abroad. Sometimes seven to eight people come to the airport with one passenger going abroad. Likewise, eight to ten relatives wait to receive one passenger returning from abroad. This increases pressure on the entry and exit areas of the airport. The number of cars rises and causes traffic jams. The normal movement of passengers is also blocked.
Parking management is also important to ensure passenger service at the airport. But one of the main complaints of passengers and relatives who come by car to Shahjalal Airport is about parking. Because of the pressure of private cars, microbuses, ride sharing cars, taxis and other vehicles, traffic jams often form in the airport area. Many times cars are seen standing even at the places fixed for passengers to get on and off. As a result, the normal work of dropping off and picking up passengers is disturbed. It is urgent to have a quick and effective system to settle complaints when luggage is lost or goods go missing.
Passengers demand that more modern technology be used in airport luggage management. They say there should be a tracking system at every step of the luggage, CCTV watching, quick receiving of complaints and a system to investigate and settle them within a fixed time.
An expatriate who came from Saudi Arabia told Daily Inqilab, “I stayed abroad for a long time. After coming back home, I suffered the most at the airport. There were long lines to pass immigration, and I completed immigration after standing for a long time. I again waited a long time to collect my luggage. My family members were waiting outside at that time. But getting several pieces of luggage was delayed. Then, while coming out, I was stopped and asked many questions about what was in so many bags and so much luggage. Expatriates are harassed for no reason. Passengers should not be harassed needlessly in the name of security.”
Mr. Hadiuzzaman, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), told Daily Inqilab that security can never be ignored in a facility like the main international airport of the country. He said every entry point, waiting area, parking space, terminal and passenger route of the airport must be brought under central watch. At the same time, modern technology is needed to spot suspicious persons or behaviour. He said the parking system needs to be more planned, technology based and open.
Mr. Hadiuzzaman said it is urgent to keep the terminals, toilets, waiting rooms, food areas, seating places and passenger routes of the airport clean on a regular basis. He said many institutions have duties in airport management, air traffic, security, immigration, customs, health, ground handling, airlines, cargo and transport. So even if one agency has good management, the weakness of another agency can harm the whole passenger service. He said a system to monitor the duty of every agency can be made effective.
