Following long-standing demands from residents of Sylhet, cargo flights from Osmani International Airport commenced on 25 April last year. However, less than a year after the inauguration, cargo operations have been suspended for the past two and a half months.
Airport authorities confirmed that cargo flights are currently halted. They added that operations could resume if foreign importers express interest, but the process would have to be restarted from scratch.
Businesspeople in Sylhet had long called for direct cargo flights from the airport. With strong overseas demand for locally produced vegetables and agricultural products, they were eager to export. Their aspirations were realised on 27 April last year, when the airport launched direct cargo flights. On that day, a cargo plane operated by Gallistear Aviation departed for Spain carrying 60 tonnes of ready-made garments. The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) sent off the flight with a traditional water cannon salute.
In the following six months, a total of 41 cargo flights departed from Sylhet to Spain, exporting 2,350 tonnes of ready-made garments. However, operations suddenly stopped in November, and no cargo flights have arrived since then.
Businesspeople in Sylhet said that without experimental testing of products, shipments cannot proceed, causing the initiative to collapse. A laboratory for testing vegetables and agricultural products, planned alongside the cargo service, has not been established. Furthermore, cargo flights were entirely dependent on ready-made garments. Overall, a lack of long-term planning and negligence by authorities has hindered progress.
Enamul Karim, a UK-based businessman and owner of Express Cargo, said that without proper packaging systems and quality-testing laboratories at the airport, sustainable cargo exports from Sylhet are impossible. He added that most cargo consisted of ready-made garments, limiting opportunities for other products. Dependence on a single product type makes cargo operations unsustainable.
Falah Uddin Ali Ahmed, former Senior Vice President of the Sylhet Chamber of Commerce, echoed these concerns. He noted that businesspeople were initially optimistic about direct exports from Sylhet, but the absence of proper packaging facilities and laboratories has caused many to lose interest. “Without experimental testing, shipments cannot proceed, undermining the entire initiative,” he said.
A Civil Aviation Authority official, who wished to remain anonymous, said all products exported from Sylhet were ready-made garments transported via chartered planes. “During summer, demand for these garments abroad is higher. But now, during winter, demand has decreased, so flights are temporarily halted,” the official explained.
Md Hafiz Ahmed, Director of Osmani International Airport, said airport operations are fully functional. “However, the operators of cargo flights have suspended services, which is why no flights have departed since November. If they lift the suspension, flights can resume,” he said.
Regarding the construction of a packaging house at the airport, he added, “This is beyond our authority. If businesspeople collectively approach the Ministry of Agriculture, it can be arranged, but we cannot do it ourselves.”