Rashidul Hasan

Hundreds of passengers had to endure what they said was mismanagement at the Dhaka airport over the last two days following the introduction of an eight-hour daily closure of the lone runway.

The authorities of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport had assured that the runway closure, which came into force on midnight Thursday, would not cause any significant disruption to flight schedules and passenger handling services, but in reality just the opposite happened, passengers alleged.

The runway needs to be closed to facilitate the construction and expansion of taxiways for the under-construction third terminal of the airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab). The daily closure will continue till June next year.

Due to the closure, the schedules for at least 12 international flights, operated by Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Saudia Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Malaysian Airlines, had to be changed.

Some 85-90 flights now depart and touch down at the airport within the 16-hour window. Around 10,000 passengers depart for different destinations from HSIA, sources at the airport said.