ATC: New corridor for economic prosperity

The vast blue sky stretching over our delta witnesses hundreds of international aircraft flying across it every day. Yet for many years, a significant portion of this immense airspace over the Bay of Bengal remained beyond the effective reach of our national monitoring system. Although foreign aircraft crossed our sovereign airspace, we were often deprived of accurate information about their movements and, consequently, of the revenue rightfully due to the national treasury. However, the state-of-the-art radar system and Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower recently commissioned at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport have brought an end to this long-standing gap. Built with French technological assistance under a government-to-government (G2G) framework, this towering facility has not only strengthened the security of our skies but has also opened up an unprecedented source of economic revenue.
Recent statistics offer a clear picture of this transformation. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, more than Tk800 crore was collected in overflight charges, or fees for the use of Bangladesh’s airspace by foreign aircraft, significantly higher than at any previous time. With the introduction of S-band primary and Mode-S secondary surveillance radars, air traffic can now be monitored with remarkable clarity across an area extending approximately 350 nautical miles from Dhaka. Close integration with the Chattogram radar system has also made it possible to ensure comprehensive surveillance over the distant waters of the Bay of Bengal. No aircraft can now simply evade this modern digital guardian and pass through undetected.
Aviation experts have long emphasised the immense strategic importance of Bangladesh’s airspace because of the country’s geographical position along major international flight routes. Although Tk942 crore was spent on installing the radar system supplied by French company Thales, the continued upward trend in revenue could enable the investment to be fully recovered within the next year and a half. The modern ATC system has also created strong prospects for increasing traffic-handling capacity by three to four times in the near future.
However, to sustain this momentum, the authorities must establish a robust framework combining effective use of technology with automated billing, accurate data analysis and regular audits. It is the responsibility of the relevant authorities to ensure that no flight’s rightful revenue is overlooked or omitted from the accounts. Our skies are no longer merely a realm of clouds floating across an empty canvas but have become a new corridor for the country’s economic self-reliance.