Dhaka's $2.1 billion third terminal, nearly 99% built and idle, comes with a 15-year no-competition clause

The concession would hand operation of the terminal to a Japanese consortium made up of Sumitomo Corporation, Japan Airport Terminal Co., Narita International Airport Corporation and Nippon Koei. The four provisions were approved last week by the ministry that oversees civil aviation and tourism, overriding objections the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) had raised, a senior Caab official told the paper. The revised agreement has gone to the consortium for a final review and still needs sign-off from the law and finance ministries and from the cabinet's economic affairs committee.

The clause bars commercial operations at rival civil airports within 100 km of the main gateway for 15 years, though it does not stop anyone planning or building one, or building military facilities. Bangladesh's share is 27% of the relevant concession revenue, with a lower, undisclosed rate while the terminal runs only in part. The other disputed terms deal with Biman Bangladesh Airlines, which works as both an airline and a ground handler, and with how changes in law that affect the operator will be handled.

One open point matters to builders. The agreement still has to set how long the parties have to report and fix construction defects, who is responsible and who pays for repairs, and the Japanese side disagreed on it, according to the paper. The ministry has told officials to finalize the terms. The terminal was built with backing from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and is nearly 99% complete, but the government must still spend Tk902 crore before it can open.

Caab expects to wrap up the agreement in November, and the government wants partial operations running by Dec. 16. When fully open, the terminal is expected to lift the airport's yearly capacity from about 8 million passengers to between 16 million and 22 million.