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Trend Analysis of Passenger and Freight Movement in the

International Airports in Bangladesh

Article  in  International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics · January 2009

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 TREND ANALYSIS OF PASSENGER AND FREIGHT MOVEMENT
IN THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS IN BANGLADESH

by

M. Mizanur Rahman
Department of Civil Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Palashi, Dhaka-1000
Telephone: (880)-2-9665650-80
Fax: 880-2-9665639
E-mail: mizanur@ce.buet.ac.bd

M. Hadiuzzaman
Department of Civil Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Palashi, Dhaka-1000
Telephone: (880)-2-9665650-80
Fax: 880-2-9665639
E-mail: mhadiuzzaman@ce.buet.ac.bd

and

Md. Ahsanul Karim

Department of Civil Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
211, Suhrawardy Hall, Palashi, BUET, Dhaka-1000
Telephone: (880)-1678-115854
E-mail: ahsan_rcc1@yahoo.com
E-mail: ahsan.rcc@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper identifies key passenger characteristics and passenger movement in three Bangladeshi
airports named Zia International Airport, Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong and Osmani
International Airport, Sylhet. Among these three airports Zia International Airport, situated in the capital city
Dhaka, is the most important airport in Bangladesh and plays the vital role in the passenger and freight
transportation through airways in the country. So, this paper also identifies key freight characteristics and freight
movement in this airport. A critical step in evaluating the impact of passenger and freight movements on the air
transportation infrastructure of Bangladesh is to develop an understanding of the passenger and freight flow
patterns comprising both nationwide and international trips. A quantitative flow analysis provides the means to
better understand both the movements into, out of, within, and through the country by identifying the volumes
and types of passengers and freights moving in the country, the modes on which those are traveling and the
origins and destinations between which they move. Although Bangladesh entered the new millennium with a
strong growth in air traffic, studies show that during recent years unlike freight movement the total number of
domestic and international passengers is decreasing significantly. The objective of this research is to provide a
comprehensive review of the recent trends of passenger and freight movement in the international airports in
Bangladesh.

KEYWORDS
Trend Analysis, Passenger Movement, Freight Movement

93
 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the Air Transportation System (ATS) is to provide safe and efficient transportation
service of passengers and cargo. It is most suitable mode where time is a factor –over medium and long
distances and associated with traffic with high value in relation to its weight and bulk. ATS is the fastest
growing mode globally. Although in terms of passenger and freight movement air mode plays a non-significant
role in Bangladesh, it is a growing mode here. Commercial aviation has undergone enormous growth over its
relatively short history as the globalization of industry and commerce has increased and air travel’s relative
affordability has contributed both to a boom in international tourism and to a large rise in the volume of air
freight. Air transport has become an integral part of many people’s lifestyle and its continued growth is taken for
granted by many. Freight transport adds no value but more cost to the freight it carries. They have direct
influence on the cost of commodities and, as a result, the price of living. Therefore, all of the freight actors try
very hard to maximize freight transport efficiency aiming at minimizing overall transport and operation costs.
Nevertheless, in the world of competition, what manufacturers try to achieve is not only cost but also time
minimization. Higher demand for movement of part finished goods to reduce inventory costs leads to a higher
number of time sensitive freight movements in the recent years. Shipping freight by air is generally reserved for
relatively high-value, low-weight products, often destined to national or international locations.

OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

The objective of this research was to develop the trend in passenger and freight movement for the
international airports in Bangladesh. Separate analysis is to be performed for two different movement-
“passenger movement,” and “freight transportation.” These trends are to be used for assessing the key
characteristics of passenger and freight movement which will give a clear idea as to how traffic to and from
Bangladesh through her international airports is growing.

The transport system of Bangladesh is consists of a network of roads, and the road transport services
which ply on them; a railway network with different gauges in the east and west of the country, providing
freight and passenger services; three maritime sea ports and an inland waterways system; transshipment centers
(road/rail, road/port, road/waterways) offering opportunities for modal transfers for freight traffic; three
international airports, a network of domestic airports and international and domestic air services; and urban
transport services (buses, taxis, 3-wheeler public transport services, etc) within Bangladesh’s cities and towns. A
comparison of modal shares may be interesting as an overall indication of the competing modes, but is not fully
representative of the actual situation. Though the share of air transport is comparatively small, it is the fastest
growing mode in our country (CAAB, 2008). So, trends in air transport carry greater importance on the
transportation system of Bangladesh. Figures 1 and 2 provide indications of reported passengers (million-km)
and freight (million ton-km) modal shares for 2003, respectively (Road Master Plan, 2005).

FIGURE 1
MODAL SHARES, PASSENGERS; 2003

94
 FIGURE 2
MODAL SHARES, FREIGHT; 2003

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES

Air is the fastest growing transport and freight mode. Its total pass-km and ton-km remain small, but
the total value of shipments may be more comparable to other modes. Therefore, air transport trends and
challenges are regularly studied all over the world. The International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of
the United Nations which codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the
planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth publishes annual
report on economic development and airline traffic patterns, trends in scheduled passenger, freight and mail
traffic, international and domestic traffic, regional distribution of scheduled international traffic, passenger
traffic on major intercontinental route groups and trends in non-scheduled passenger traffic.

In the developed countries, the transport regulatory organizations such as Federal Highway
Administration (USA), The Centre for Sustainable Transportation (Canada), Domestic Airline Activity
(Australia), etc. undertake regular study on air transport trends. Tsao (1998) showed a broader understanding of
the California’s air cargo industry as well as the role of air cargo in California’s goods movement and assessed
the importance of air cargo to the State’s economy to serve as an input to the development of the Statewide
Goods Movement Strategy.

Jhang (2003) discussed Hong Kong air cargo in the context of both China and the Asia-Pacific region.
He provided a description of a conceptual framework that is useful for discussing the role of an international
airfreight hub, a detailed discussion on the characteristics and trends of air cargo in Hong Kong, an examination
of Hong Kong's major competitors in an increasingly competitive regional and global market, including airports
in China and East Asia, and an analysis of the competitive factors in the industry.

In Bangladesh, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh keeps the records of passenger and freight
movements in all the airport in the country but no dedicated study on trend analysis of air transport has been
performed yet. However some studies were performed showing the trends in all transport modes in Bangladesh
(Alam et el., 2003; Siddiqi, 2006).

REVIEW OF AIRPORTS IN BANGLADESH

All the airports in Bangladesh are operated under the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB),
an autonomous body. CAAB is responsible for airports, runways and air traffic control, taxiways, terminal
buildings, warehouse, control tower, operation and administrative buildings, air navigation and radio
communication system. There are three international and five domestic airports in Bangladesh.

1. International Airport
1 (a) Zia International Airport, Dhaka
This is the largest and the principal international airport of the country (figure 3). It is situated at the
capital city Dhaka. Almost all international passengers embark at and disembark from Zia. More than 90% of

95
aeronautical functions of CAAB are carried out from it (CAAB, 2008). The airlines and corresponding routes in
this airport are as follows:
x British Airways (London-Heathrow)
x China Eastern Airlines (Beijing, Kunming)
x Dragonair (Hong Kong)
x Druk Air (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Gaya, Paro)
x Emirates (Dubai)
x Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
x GMG Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Barisal, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Delhi, Dubai, Jessore,
Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Sylhet)
x Gulf Air (Muscat)
x Jet Airways (Delhi, Kolkata)
x Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
x Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
x Pakistan International Airlines (Karachi)
x Qatar Airways (Doha)
x RAK Airways (Ras Al Khaimah)
x Royal Bengal Airlines (Barisal, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Jessore, Kolkata, Sylhet)
x Saudi Arabian Airlines (Damman, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh)
x Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
x Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
x TransGlobal Airways (Manila-Clark) chartered
x United Airways (Bangladesh) (Barisal, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Jessore, Kolkata, Sylhet)
x Yemenia (Sana'a)

The following airlines serve ZIA for cargo purpose (Wikipedia, 2007):
x Air France Cargo
x Biman Cargo
x Bismillah Airlines
x British Airways World Cargo
x Cathay Pacific Cargo
x Dragonair Cargo
x Emirates Sky Cargo
x Empost
x FedEx
x Gulf Air Cargo
x MASKargo
x PIA Cargo
x Qatar Airways Cargo
x Saudi Arabian Airlines Cargo
x Singapore Airlines Cargo
x Thai Cargo
x Yangtze River Express

Additional information about ZIA is (Wikipedia, 2007):

x Airport Type : Public
x Airport Code : DAC
x Runway Length : 10500 ft
x Runway Elevation: 30 ft AMSL
x Area : 1981 acres (8.0 km²)
x Longitude : 90° 23’ 52” E
x Latitude : 23° 50’ 36” N
x World Area Code : 703
x GMT Offset : +6.0
x Direction : 14/32
x Surface : Concrete/Asphalt

96
 FIGURE 3
ZIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

1 (b) Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong

This airport is situated in the port city of Chittagong. It is the second largest airport and the alternate
airport to ZIA (figure 4). The following airlines serve Shah Amanat International Airport (CAAB, 2008):
x Air Arabia (Sharjah)
x Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Cox's Bazar, Dhaka, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, Kolkata, Kuwait,
Muscat)
x Best Air (Dhaka)
x GMG Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Cox's Bazar, Dhaka, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur)
x Oman Air (Muscat)
x Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
x United Airways (Bangladesh) (Dhaka, Cox's Bazar)
x RAK Airways (Ras Al Khaimah)
x Royal Bengal Airline (Dhaka)

FIGURE 4
SHAH AMANAT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

97
1 (c) Osmani International Airport, Sylhet
It is situated at the city of Sylhet, a district at the North-East corner of the country (figure 5). It has
been upgraded to an international one in order to facilitate the people of the district which is famous for a large
number of residents of United Kingdome. The following airlines serve Osmani International Airport (CAAB,
2008):
x Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai)
x GMG Airlines (Dhaka)
x United Airways (Bangladesh) (Dhaka)
x Royal Bengal (Dhaka)

FIGURE 5
OSMANI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

2. Domestic Airports
There are 5 operational domestic airports in the country. One other domestic airport in Bagerhat is under
construction.
2 (a) Operational Airports
The five operational domestic airports are:
1. Saidpur Airport
2. Shah Makhdum Airport, Rajshahi,
3. Jessore Airport
4. Barisal Airport and
5. Cox's Bazar Airport.
2 (b) Airports under Construction
Khan Jahan Ali Airport, Bagerhat. The construction started in 2006 and it will take 3 years to come
into operation. The World Bank is financing it (World Bank Report, 2006).

3 Short Take-off and Landings (STOLs)

There are seven STOLs which are situated at the following places (the service is not available now):
Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Ishurdi, Shamshernagar, Tejgaon, Comilla, Bogra
Figure 6 shows all the airports in Bangladesh (CAAB, 2008).

98
 FIGURE 6
AIRPORTS IN BANGLADESH

FACTORS IN PASSENGER MOVEMENT

To have perfectly satisfied customers (the airlines and their passengers) airports would need to supply
sufficient runway and terminal capacity to avoid delays at even the busiest periods, allowing the airlines to
maximize fleet utilization and improve load factors by providing service when their customers, the passengers,
most desire (Gillen, 2004). Airports, conversely, would like the airlines to spread their flight over the entire day
so as to minimize runway and terminal requirements. The advent of hubbing has exacerbated this dichotomy
with its concentration of arrivals and departures in narrow time bands. Even at those airports that are not used as
hubs by any airline, aircraft movements are not evenly distributed. Among the other factors that affect an
airport’s peaking characteristics are the domestic/international traffic mixes as well as the long haul/short haul
mix (Ashford, 1984).

FACTORS IN FREIGHT DEMAND

Mayne (2002) and UPS (2004) showed that the main factors that contribute to the growing needs of
time sensitive freight logistics include:

x globalization and international trade,

x trend towards outsourcing non-core activities including logistics,
x trend towards smaller more frequent shipment (time sensitive supply); just-in time inventory; and
direct-to customer business,
x dynamic factors including the pace and risk of obsolescence; speed-to-market and consistent;
satisfactory customer experiences,
x information technology e.g. bar-coding; electronic data interchange (EDI); web based ordering and
tracking capabilities; automatic data capture; routing management and inventory track-and-trace
visibility, etc.

99
 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The data of passengers and cargo movement of the three international airports in Bangladesh have been
collected from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) which is an organization under the Ministry
of Civil Aviation in the Peoples’ Republic Bangladesh. This organization is officially responsible for keeping all
the records of passenger and freight movement inside and through the country. Based on the availability of data,
passenger movement data were collected for all the three airports for 5 years from 2002 to 2006 and cargo
movement data were collected for only ZIA for 16 years starting from 1990 to 2005 as ZIA carries the major
portion of cargo. As the database of CAAB officially contains the data up to the year 2006, more updated data
could not be used. The collected data contain both the amount of arrival and departure. These data were then
summarized and represented graphically using the Microsoft Excel program.

TREND ANALYSIS OF PASSENGER MOVEMENT

1. Zia International Airport, Dhaka (ZIA)

ZIA handles the major portion of domestic and international passengers. As it is situated in the capital
of Bangladesh and regularly operates 20 international airlines, most of the international trips are done in this
airport (Wikipedia, 2007).

TABLE 1
VOLUME OF INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER IN ZIA (2002-2006)

Yea Departure %Chang

r Arrivala a
Totala e
200 1033.20 2297.96
2 9 1264.756 5 -
200 1063.89 2325.50
3 4 1261.608 2 +1.18
200
4 1125.55 1378.95 2504.5 +7.70
200 1185.73 2602.54
5 4 1416.814 8 +3.91
200 1182.50 2619.41
6 6 1436.905 1 +0.65
a
value in thousand

From Table 1 it is seen that in the year 2002 total number of passenger movement was 2297.965
thousand and it increased in the next 4 years at the rates of 1.18, 7.7, 3.91 and 0.65 percent respectively. So, the
increasing rate tended to be zero after 2005. The increasing rates of arrival were 2.98, 5.83, 5.33 and -0.25
percent respectively. It should be noted that in the year 2006, passenger arrival decreases. In case of passenger
departure, the rates were -0.24, 9.27, 2.76, 1.41 percent respectively. Unlike the arrival rate, the departure rate
decreases in the year 2003. During these 5 years percentages of arrival and departure passengers were 54.54 and
44.46 respectively. Figure 7 shows the trends graphically.

100
 FIGURE 7
TRENDS OF INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS IN ZIA

TABLE 2
VOLUME OF DOMESTIC PASSENGER IN ZIA (2002-2006)

Year Arrivalb Departureb Totalb %Change

2002 353.592 249.247 602.839 -
2003 315.065 285.913 600.978 -0.32
2004 340.714 260.975 601.689 +0.11
2005 324.617 236.719 561.336 -6.64
2006 270.492 186.197 456.689 -18.68
b
value in thousand

From Table 2 it is seen that in the year 2002 total number of passenger movement was 602.839
thousand and it increased in the next 4 years at the rates of -0.32, 0.11, -6.64 and -18.68 percent respectively.
So, from 2004 the total number of domestic passengers is decreasing significantly and the decreasing rate is
becoming more every year. It should be a matter of great concern for the authority. From the figure 6 it is clearly
visible that both the arrival and departure passenger numbers are decreasing significantly. During these 5 years
percentages of arrival and departure passengers were 56.83 and 43.17 respectively. Figure 8 shows the trends
graphically.

FIGURE 8
TRENDS OF DOMESTIC PASSENGERS IN ZIA

101
2. Shah Amanat International Airport,Chittagong

It serves Bangladesh's south-eastern port city of Chittagong and handles significant numbers of
domestic and international passengers.

TABLE 3
VOLUME OF INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER IN
SHAH AMANAT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (2002-2006)

Arrival %Chang
c
Year Departurec Totalc e
147.84
2002 73.151 74.69 1 -
2003 73.313 79.777 153.09 +3.31
106.26 224.61
2004 1 118.353 4 +47.05
105.73 231.27
2005 2 125.539 1 +3.11
100.35 222.55
2006 7 122.196 3 -3.88
c
value in thousand

From Table 3 it is seen that in the year 2002 total number of passenger movement was 147.841
thousand and it increased in the next 4 years at the rates of 3.31, 47.05, 3.11, -3.88 percent respectively. So,
from 2005 the total number of international passengers is decreasing significantly. From the figure 6 it is clearly
visible that both the arrival and departure passenger numbers are decreasing. During these 5 years percentages
of arrival and departure passengers were 46.84 and 53.16 respectively. Figure 9 shows the trends graphically.

FIGURE 9
TRENDS OF INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER IN SHAH AMANAT AIRPORT

TABLE 4
VOLUME OF DOMESTIC PASSENGER IN
SHAH AMANAT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (2002-2006)

Year Arrivald Departured Totald %Change

2002 80.169 84.416 164.585 -
2003 93.171 83.2 176.371 +6.66
2004 97.986 98.449 196.435 +11.36
2005 93.319 87.766 181.085 -7.65
2006 74.599 66.975 141.574 -21.55
d
value in thousand

102
 From Table 4 it is seen that in the year 2002 total number of passenger movement was 164.585
thousand and it increased in the next 4 years at the rates of 6.66, 11.36, -7.65, -21.55 percent respectively. So,
from 2004 the total number of domestic passengers is decreasing significantly. From the figure 6 it is clearly
visible that both the arrival and departure passenger numbers are decreasing significantly. During these 5 years
percentages of arrival and departure passengers were 51.05 and 48.95 respectively. Figure 10 shows the trends
graphically.

FIGURE 10
TRENDS OF DOMESTIC PASSENGER IN SHAH AMANAT AIRPORT

3. Osmani International Airport, Sylhet

The vast majority of passengers using the airport are expatriate Bangladeshis and their descendants
from the Sylhet Division living in the United Kingdom.

TABLE 5
VOLUME OF INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER IN
OSMANI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (2002-2006)

Year Arrivale Departuree Totale %Change

2002 70.537 87.901 158.438 -
2003 77.041 80.749 157.79 -0.63
2004 81.607 76.499 158.106 +0.20
2005 52.389 76.599 128.988 -18.35
2006 48.407 64.895 113.302 -12.40
e
value in thousand

From Table 5 it is seen that in the year 2002 total number of passenger movement was 147.841
thousand and it increased in the next 4 years at the rates of -0.63, 0.20, -18.36, -12.40 percent respectively. So,
from 2004 the total number of international passengers is decreasing significantly. From the figure 6 it is clearly
visible that both the arrival and departure passenger numbers are decreasing at a large rate. During these 5 years
percentages of arrival and departure passengers were 46.08 and 53.91 respectively. Figure 11 shows the trends
graphically.

103
 FIGURE 11
TRENDS OF INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER IN OSMANI AIRPORT

TABLE 6
VOLUME OF DOMESTIC PASSENGER IN OSMANI DOMESTIC AIRPORT (2002-2006)

Arrival %Chang
f
Year Departuref Totalf e
2002 45.715 45.636 91.351 -
110.06
2003 52.518 57.546 4 +20.88
112.27
2004 39.06 73.216 6 +2.02
2005 51.916 42.235 94.151 -16.15
2006 49.284 39.637 88.921 -5.15
f
value in thousand

From Table 6 it is seen that in the year 2002 total number of passenger movement was 91.351thousand
and it increased in the next 4 years at the rates of 20.88, 2.02, -16.15, -5.55 percent respectively. So, from 2004
the total number of domestic passengers is decreasing significantly. From the figure 6 it is clearly visible that the
arrival rate slightly increased and then decreased along with the departure rate from 2005 in significant manner.
During these 5 years percentages of arrival and departure passengers were 48.19 and 51.81 respectively. Figure
12 shows the trends graphically.

FIGURE 12
TRENDS OF DOMESTIC PASSENGER IN OSMANI AIRPORT

104
 TREND ANALYSIS OF FREIGHT MOVEMENT IN ZIA

As ZIA is situated in the capital of Bangladesh and regularly operates 17 national and international
cargo services (CAAB, 2008), most of the freight transports through airways are done in this airport. About
105,000 tons of freight and mail pass through Zia International Airport annually (Siddiqi, 2006). Table 7 shows
the amount of cargo transported in ZIA between 1990 and 2000.

TABLE 7
TOTAL VOLUME OF FREIGHT MOVEMENT IN ZIA (1990-2000)

Year Cargo Amountg %Change

1990 39359 -
1991 35156 -10.678625
1992 45,588 +29.673455
1993 46883 +2.8406598
1994 64776 +38.16522
1995 67758 +4.6035569
1996 72352 +6.7800112
1997 78737 +8.8249115
1998 82932 +5.3278636
1999 85290 +2.8432933
2000 111331 +30.532302
g
amount in tons

Table 7 shows that between 1990 and 2000, ZIA has a registered growth in cargo traffic. In 1990, the
beginning of the last decade of the last millennium, cargo-both international and domestic was 39,359 tons.

In 1991 cargo volume declined to 35,156 tons-a fall of 10.68 per cent over the previous year. This
declination might be for the political instability in Bangladesh.

In 1992, cargo volume increased by 29.67 per cent to 45,588 tons.

In 1993, cargo volume increased to 46,883 tons by registering a growth of 2.84 per cent.

In 1994, Cargo registered a growth of 38.17 per cent to 64,776 tons.

In 1995 Cargo volume rose by 4.60 per cent to 67,758 tons.

The same trend continued in 1996. Cargo volume grew by 6.78 per cent to 72,352 tons.
During 1997, Cargo volume increased to 78,737 tons or 8.82 per cent more than 1996.

In 1998, cargo volume reached 82,932 tons, registering increase of 5.33 per cent.

In 1999, Cargo volume increased by 2.84 per cent to 85,290 tons.

In 2000, last year of the last decade of the last millennium, cargo registered a growth of 30.53 per cent
to 1,11,331 tons. This unusually high rate might be due to larger amount of export of ready-made-garments
(RMG) just before the termination of the quota system for Bangladesh (Sarder, 2008).

From the operational statistics between 1990 and 2000 it is evident that all the sectors have registered
growth during the period. In the critical areas of cargo, the growth figures are undoubtedly healthy. Cargo
registered a cumulative growth of 118.91 percent and an average annual growth of 10.81 percent. Figure 13
shows the fact graphically.

105
 FIGURE 13
TRENDS OF FREIGHT MOVEMENT IN ZIA (1990-2000)

The upward momentum of the growth trend still continues in the new millennium. Table 8 shows that
Bangladesh entered the new millennium with a strong growth in freight movement.

TABLE 8
TOTAL VOLUME OF FREIGHT MOVEMENT IN ZIA (2000-2005)

Year Cargo Amounth %Change

2000 111331 -
2001 94460 -15.15391
2002 101,129 7.0601313
2003 104689 3.5202563
2004 107366 2.5570977
2005 114979 7.0906991
h
amount in tons

It is found from table 8 that in 2001, the first year of the new millennium volume of cargo declined by
15.15 per cent to 94,460 tons. September 11 terrorist attacks on USA and subsequent repercussion can be
blamed for the decline.

In 2002, the increasing trend of cargo was regained and it increased by 7.06 per cent to 1,01,129 tons.

In 2003 cargo volume increased by 3.52 per cent to 1,04,689 tons.

In 2004 cargo registered a growth of 2.56 per cent to 1,07,366 tons.

In 2005 growth of cargo during the year was much better compared to passenger traffic. It was 7.09 per
cent to 1,14,979 tons.

So, in the first five years of the new millennium, cargo registered a cumulative growth of 5.07 percent
and an average annual growth of 1.01 percent. Although air cargo registered growth in four of the first five years
of the new millennium, average yearly growth fell because of the 15.15 percent decline of the volume in 2001.
Figure 14 shows it graphically.

106
 FIGURE 14
TRENDS OF FREIGHT MOVEMENT IN ZIA (1990-2000)

Figure 15 combines figure 13 and figure 14.

FIGURE 15
TRENDS OF FREIGHT MOVEMENT IN ZIA (1990-2005)

CONCLUSIONS

This paper has reviewed the numbers of passengers and amount of freight moved and transported both
in the domestic and international routes. The evaluation shows that from ZIA dealt with 86 to 88 percent of
international and 66 to 70 percent of domestic passengers transported through these three international airports,
whereas Shah Amanat airport handles 6 to 8 percent of international 19 to 22 percent domestic passengers only.

From 2004 the total number of domestic passengers in all three airports is decreasing significantly and
the decreasing rate is becoming more every year. It should be a matter of great concern to the authority.

Except in ZIA, from 2005 the total number of international passengers is also decreasing significantly
and the decreasing rate is becoming more every year.

107
 In case of freight movement the evaluation shows that ZIA deals with significant percentage of
international and domestic freight between 1990 and 2005. Bangladesh and in other words her gateway by air at
Zia International Airport has registered growth in cargo transport. Volume of cargo increased from 39,359 tons
to 1,14,979 tons - a cumulative growth of 123.99 percent and average yearly growth of 7.75 percent. In the
context of both global and national air traffic movement trends, the upward swing is expected to continue at a
healthy rate. Through ZIA’s more aircraft, more cargos are expected to move.

The annual growth rate figures in the past 15 years give a clear idea as to how freight movement to and
from Bangladesh through ZIA are growing. The figures also provide a food for thought as to how long Z1A will
be able to sustain the growth without turning into a centre of chaos. So, ZIA achieves robust growth of air
freight movement - now is the time to look ahead & sustain the momentum.

Although air transport is a growing mode of transportation all over the world, the infrastructure
building for this mode is quite expensive. Due to the scarcity of adequate funding, it is very important in a
developing country like Bangladesh to find out the critical and promising sectors where the government should
allot more money. To justify this allotment, the trends of both the passenger and freight movement by air have
been analyzed. Recently the government of Bangladesh has taken a decision to build a new runway at ZIA,
which is the outcome of such kinds of analysis. Moreover, this analysis serves as an input to the development of
the Countrywide Passengers and Goods Movement Strategy.

NOTES

Alam, J.B., Shikder, H.S. & Goulias, G.K. (2003), “On the Role of Transportation in Regional Economic
Efficiency in Bangladesh: A Data Envelopment Analysis”, A MAUTC Technical Communication – February
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman is an Associate Professor

in the department of Civil Engineering, at the
Bangladesh University of Engineering and
Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He received his
PhD in Traffic Flow Analysis from Yokohama
National University in Japan. His research interests
are in the areas of developing mathematical models
for Heterogeneous traffic flow condition, Traffic
management, Transportation and Traffic planning
and Traffic safety. Currently he is working in the
areas of developing mathematical models for traffic
induced air pollution and sound pollution in urban
area

Md. Hadiuzzaman is an Assistant Professor of Civil

Engineering Department at Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka. He has
over 4 years of experience in teaching and research
in traffic engineering, micro-simulation and road
safety. He has earned his M.Sc. (Civil &
Transportation) in 2008 from the same university.

Md. Ahsanul Karim recently has completed his

B.Sc. Engineering in the Department of Civil
Engineering from Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology. Soon he is going to
attend the University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada to pursue his M.A.Sc. in Civil
Engineering (Transportation). He has a great
interest in traffic engineering and road safety
research.

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