Trolley crisis grips Dhaka and Chattogram airports. Here’s why
Trouble likely to persist until end of January
A severe trolley shortage has emerged as a major source of misery for travellers at Dhaka and Chattogram airports this winter, with international flight passengers frequently forced to wait up to two hours to secure a trolley for their luggage.
Passengers arriving at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram have been facing acute difficulties due to an apparent trolley crisis, particularly during early morning hours when multiple international flights arrive simultaneously.
Several passengers recently told TBS that they had to wait between one and two hours to obtain a trolley before collecting their baggage, a situation they say is far worse than in previous winter seasons.
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"I had to wait nearly two hours to get a trolley today," a businessman at the Dhaka airport told TBS on Friday, expressing his frustration.
Airport authorities, however, said the problem does not stem from an actual shortage of trolleys but rather from severe flight congestion caused by winter fog, which has disrupted schedules and led to a sudden influx of passengers at specific times.
Speaking to this newspaper, Group Captain Ragib Samad, executive director of the company concerned with trolley operations at Dhaka airport, said dense fog and adverse weather conditions have resulted in many delayed flights landing almost simultaneously in the morning.
"Due to delays, a large number of passengers are reaching the terminal at the same time, which slows down baggage processing and passenger clearance," he said, adding that the Dhaka airport has only eight baggage belts. "Unless a belt is completely cleared, luggage from a new flight cannot be placed there. When 13 to 15 flights arrive together, passengers inevitably face long waits."
The delay has a direct impact on trolley availability. Passengers usually collect trolleys after completing immigration but before retrieving baggage. However, because passengers from earlier flights take longer to leave the terminal, trolleys are not returned quickly enough for reuse. Although the Dhaka airport has around 3,700 trolleys in total for arrivals and departures combined, managing peak-time pressure remains difficult.
Ragib Samad said congestion is highest from early morning until around 2pm or 2:30pm, after which the situation gradually improves as flight schedules normalise. "To ease the pressure, an additional 100 trolleys have been brought in from Chattogram, and those under maintenance have been made operational as quickly as possible."
A similar situation is being observed at the Chattogram airport. Group Captain Shaikh Abdullah Alamgir, executive director of Shah Amanat International Airport, said that although the airport requires around 600 trolleys, it currently has nearly 1,200. "Even so, simultaneous arrivals of six to seven flights during winter are creating temporary shortages." He added that the pressure is likely to continue until the end of January.
Why situation worse this year
Aviation insiders say the crisis has become more severe this year due to the downgrade of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Dhaka airport. During periods of dense fog, runway visibility frequently drops below safe limits, forcing multiple flights to divert to Kolkata, Sylhet or Chattogram.
These diversions disrupt airline schedules, resulting in many flights arriving in Dhaka at the same time once conditions improve, intensifying passenger congestion inside the terminal.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), the downgrade followed damage to the runway lighting system when a Thai Airways aircraft landed on 29 October.
CAAB Assistant Director (Public Relations) Muhammad Kawsar Mahmud said the airport is currently unable to meet the requirements for maintaining ILS Category II operations. The specialised lighting equipment must be imported, and a tender process is already under way, he said.
At present, the Dhaka airport is operating under ILS Category I, which requires a minimum visibility of 1,200 metres for safe landing. Under Category II, aircraft can land safely with visibility as low as 500 to 750 metres. As a result, flights are frequently delayed or diverted during dense fog in the early morning and late-night hours.
Experts note that to maintain ILS Category II status, at least 95% of the runway lighting system must remain functional. With the effectiveness of centreline and other critical lights currently below that threshold, authorities have been unable to retain the higher category – leading indirectly to flight bunching, passenger congestion and, ultimately, the severe trolley shortage now troubling travellers.
