Cox's Bazar International Airport is a international airport in the resort town of

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; ; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and Cox's Bazar District, district headquarters in south-eastern Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar Beach, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangladesh, is the longest uninterrupte ...

in Bangladesh. The airport serves the residents of Cox's Bazar as well as tourists to the region. Cox's Bazar Airport is undergoing massive expansion to be upgraded to an international airport with international flights starting from 27 July 2025.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

established an airfield near

. It was converted into a domestic airport by the central government of Pakistan in 1956, seven years after the city was incorporated into the Pakistani province of

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

(later

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

). The airport was damaged during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

and was renovated and reopened in 1972. According to civil aviation sources, in 2009, the government had planned to rapidly modernise the airport to accommodate fighter jets, if required.

Expansion and development

Since 2012, plans to upgrade and expand the airport to allow international arrivals have been underway. Once completed, it will be the fourth international airport in Bangladesh. The two phases of upgrading will let the airport provide better facilities for parking, landing, and take-off for

wide-body aircraft A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is ...

such as the B777 or the A330. The first phase of the upgrade cost . Under the first phase in 2012, the

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

was lengthened from 6,775 feet to 9,000 feet and widened from 120 feet to . The runway's load capability was strengthened, and the runway lighting also received an upgrade. Equipment such as an instrument landing system,

distance measuring equipment In aviation, distance measuring equipment (DME) is a radio navigation technology that measures the slant range (distance) between an aircraft and a ground station by timing the propagation delay of radio signals in the frequency band between 9 ...

, AMeDAS, and VOR was installed. Aircraft Refuelling ( JET A-1) facilities were available from February 2017 by Standard Asiatic Oil Company Limited, an enterprise of

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation () (BPC) is a government agency in Bangladesh to import, distribute and market oil and petroleum products. Amin-Ul-Ahsan is the chairperson of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation. History Founded in 1976 by Presi ...

. Under the second phase, the runway is being expanded by an additional 1,700 feet from its current by reclaiming land from the sea. An approximately 1,300-foot stretch of the runway's expanded portion would be over the sea.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Incidents and accidents

* On 9 March 2016, an

Antonov An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...

of True Aviation crashed into the Bay of Bengal shortly after take-off.

References

External links

Cox's Bazar Airport

Cox's Bazar Airport on Yellow Pages
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Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Buildings and structures in Cox's Bazar International airports in Bangladesh World War II sites in Bangladesh Airports established in 1956 1956 establishments in East Pakistan