The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism today issued a directive to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) to waive all applicable charges for additional and special flights being operated by airlines to re-adjust disrupted schedules following the recent fire at the Cargo Village of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka.

The ministry sent an official letter to CAAB today, signed by Senior Assistant Secretary Mosammat Shakila Parveen, instructing the authority to take immediate measures to implement the waiver.

The letter stated that due to the fire incident on October 18 at the import cargo complex of HSIA, both domestic and international flight schedules were severely affected.

“In this situation, several airlines have taken initiatives to operate additional and special flights to manage the schedule disruptions,” the ministry said in the letter.

Accordingly, the government has decided to exempt all applicable charges for these flights operated between October 19 and October 21 (until midnight), it added.

The fire, which broke out around 2:15 pm on Saturday, caused extensive damage to the import cargo section where imported goods were stored.

A total of 37 units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence supported by members of the Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Civil Aviation Authority, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police, and Ansar worked for several hours to bring the blaze under control,

By evening, the fire was largely contained, although most of the stored goods were reported to have been destroyed.