With the inauguration of a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower and radar system, the country is entering the digital aviation era. Ending a 35-year-old analog system, Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport is moving to 100% automation in Bangladesh’s airspace management from Monday, April 20.
The new system incorporates technology developed by the world-renowned French company Thales. Through this technology, the country’s entire airspace, including the Bay of Bengal, will now come under radar coverage.
Replacing the old and limited-capacity radar system, this project—implemented at a cost of about 942 crore taka—has connected Bangladesh to the world’s modern aviation network. The journey of this advanced system will begin on Monday, April 20, inaugurated by the Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, which is expected to make Bangladesh’s airspace fully safe and commercially profitable.
Technologically, this new system is highly powerful. Built by France’s renowned Thales company, it includes an S-band primary radar and a Mode-S secondary surveillance radar. As a result, from now on, the entire airspace of Bangladesh, including deepsea are of the Bay of Bengal, will come under surveillance.
Previously, due to limitations in radar coverage, many areas were known as “blind spots.” Now, the position, trajectory, and altitude of every aircraft can be accurately identified. Controllers working in the ATC tower will receive real-time information, making takeoff and landing processes faster and more precise.
From an economic perspective, this project will become a major source of revenue for Bangladesh. According to international rules, airlines must pay “flying over charges” when using a country’s airspace. Previously, due to limitations in the radar system, many foreign flights remained outside surveillance, causing Bangladesh to lose significant amounts of foreign currency earnings. From now on, as the entire airspace comes under digital coverage, no flight will remain outside monitoring, which will have a significant positive impact on national revenue.
Bangladesh’s geographical location—at the junction of South Asia and the Middle East—makes it highly important, with numerous international flights using this route every day. To manage this growing air traffic, the automation system was a timely necessity. It will not only ensure internal security but also facilitate uninterrupted data exchange of air traffic services with neighboring India (Kolkata) and Myanmar (Yangon) through the implementation of AIDC (Air Traffic Services Inter-facility Data Communication).
By ending 54 years of manual and semi-automated systems, the adoption of this technology marks a major step toward transforming Bangladesh into one of South Asia’s smart aviation hubs.
DBTech/SH/EK/OR
