Biman will lose business of around Tk 100 crore a year if the ban on direct cargo from Dhaka to the UK continued.

There could be more bad news for the carrier as the UK might ban direct passenger flights from Dhaka as well, if Bangladesh failed to start meeting some international security requirements by March 31, said officials in the civil aviation ministry.

On Wednesday, the UK government imposed the ban citing poor cargo security measures at Shahjalal International Airport.

Biman is the only carrier that operates Dhaka-London direct flights. The carrier has four flights a week and until Wednesday it carried cargo on those flights.

Amid fear of further bans, the minister and secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism have decided to work at the Shahjalal International Airport for a certain period of time of every day until March 31 for quick implementation of a plan agreed by Bangladesh and the UK.

The move comes after British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday hinting at the probable ban on direct passenger flights after March 31.

A top official of Biman told The Daily Star, “Biman earns between Tk 40 to Tk 50 lakh carrying cargo in each flight … Biman will lose around Tk 100 crore annually.”

The official said 25 to 30 tonnes of cargo, mostly apparel and vegetables, is shipped in each of the flights to London.

If the UK banned direct passenger flights, the loss would be immense, the Biman official said.

Between 380 and 400 passengers fly Biman on its Dhaka-London and London-Dhaka return flights.

On Wednesday night, Acting Managing Director MM Asaduzzaman of Biman told The Daily Star that he could not immediately say how much Biman would lose.

The UK banned direct cargo from Dhaka to UK as their recent assessments of the Shahjalal International Airport found that some international security requirements were not being met. Australia, citing security concerns, imposed a blanket ban on air cargo from Bangladesh on December 19.

In the letter, Cameron said UK officials have been asked to work with Bangladesh officials to make a work plan. He also asked to start implementation of the plan by March 31 and if it was done, it would help Bangladesh avoid any further steps by the UK, an official at the civil aviation ministry said mentioning the letter.

The UK officials have mentioned that there are huge security gaps in the airport in their last assessment, the official said.

The UK government has taken the issue seriously following the recent terrorist attacks on planes in Egypt and Somalia. The letter also mentioned that there was a lack of trained security officials and proper monitoring at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, a source said.

The UK requested the prime minister to take necessary actions to ensure required skilled officials at the airport as per an international obligation.

Following the bombing and crash of a Russian jet over Egypt's Sinai desert in October, the UK Department for Transport made a list of 38 airports of 20 countries that have security lapses. The list includes Shahjalal International Airport.

Experts from the UK inspected the Dhaka airport in November and December last year and found serious security lapses and risks.

“Findings were horrible. Overall, the airport failed to meet the required security standards in 75 percent of the observations. In 25 percent of the observations, security standards were being consistently met,” said a report prepared by the UK expert after the follow-up visit in December.

The team expressed serious concern about cargo screening and handling at the airport.

Biman is solely responsible for cargo handling.

“In 80 percent of the observations, security measures were not complied,” the report mentioned.

The Daily Star has obtained a copy of the report.

REPORT FINDINGS

The UK report observed that supervision was either totally absent or ineffective at the Dhaka airport.

There was ineffective access control into the terminal building and poor management of queues resulted in large numbers of people presenting a potential target for a landslide attack. 

The passenger and staff screening process for access to the terminal was ineffective with the scanner not focussed on the task and very few bag searches being made. Body searches were consistently poor, the report said.

Similar poor standards of screening of passengers and cabin bags were observed at the gates.

The application of ETD (explosives trace detection) as an additional gate was not particularly effective, it went on to say.

The hold baggage scanner was not focussed on the task and bags did not appear to be adequately protected within the baggage make up area.

Staff screening standards at the access points of commercially important person and very important person was poor.

THE RESULT

Following the report, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) made a temporary force of 250 people drawn from the Air force, Armed Police Battalion and Ansar.

Caab officials were being trained by the UK and other foreign experts.

Rab and BGB deployed dog squads at the three international airports.

The Caab is strictly controlling access of people to the airport, which unfortunately has been causing sufferings to passengers. People had to stand in long queues for a long time as there was a shortage of scanners and manpower. Passengers and their bags were strictly scanned using the available screeners.

The Ecnec recently approved a Tk 89.55 crore project to purchase necessary scanners, explosive detectors, and equipment for the three international airports in the country.

Caab Chairman M Sanaul Haque recently told The Daily Star that the UK team was satisfied with the way Caab staff had been working to ensure security at the Shahjalal International Airport. “They are satisfied with our work, but they are still apprehensive weather our work would be sustainable,” he said.

UK OFFICIALS ARRIVE SUNDAY

The aviation security experts from the UK will have a meeting with the Bangladesh government to see the work plan and its implementation.

“We'll place our plan before the team, narrate what so far has been done and ask if they have any further security requirements,” said a top official of the civil aviation ministry yesterday.

The civil aviation ministry in a press release yesterday said the ban on direct cargo from Dhaka to London was unfortunate since the British High Commission had earlier expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by Bangladesh to ensure security at the airport.

The UK officials will arrive on Sunday.