Despite the government's thrust on digitalisation and wooing more foreign tourists, none of Bangladesh's airports has a proper website where passengers can get information before starting their travel, reports bdnews24.com.
Aviation experts and people in the tourism sector say it is a must for the airports to have updated information on their websites for the foreign tourists and airlines.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon himself is not aware that the airports have no website.
The premier one, Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) International Airport in the capital, has a website - hsia.gov.bd - but the site is down for two months.
Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet have no website.The condition is same at airports for domestic flights in Rajshahi, Jessore, Syedpur, Cox's Bazar and Barisal.
People usually visit airport websites to know flight schedules. They visit these websites also to check notices, from emergency ones to those on lost luggage.
When asked why the airports in Bangladesh do not have any website, Minister Menon claimed those airports have websites with information. But he later retracted his statement and said he would check the issue and take measures.
Kazi Iqbal Karim, a director of the airport, said it had no 'official' website and the 'unofficial' one was not working either. "I hope it will be okay within two to three days," he said.
The Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh or TOAB Director Taslim Amin Shovon said overseas visitors plan a tour after checking information about various things - from the weather forecast to security, and hotel and airport facilities.
"All the airports must have websites. If the input of the airlines can be provided on a single platform, everyone will benefit," he said.
Aviation experts said the foreign airlines would be encouraged to take fuel and technological facilities from Bangladeshi airports if those had websites. They said the websites of airports also needed to have real-time information on flight schedules and ways to contact the authorities.
Nafees Ahmed Imtiazuddin, a former director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said most of the airports in the world have their own websites. He said the Access to Information or a2i programme under the Prime Minister's Office was supposed to make websites for all the government offices, including the civil aviation ministry and authority.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh or CAAB, 16,473 Biman flights and 48,502 of foreign airlines flew from or to Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) International Airport in 2016-2017 fiscal year.
CAAB Chairman M Naim Hassan said they had a plan to make websites for the airports. "The websites will be launched," he said. The government observed 2016 as Tourism Year to develop the sector.
- Courtesy: The Financial Express, Jan 04, 2018
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