Airport of most agonising delay
I would like to bring to the attention of Biman and the Bangladesh Government Ministry of Tourism about the unacceptably long delays in getting checked bags from flights landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International airport in Dhaka. For example, on December 27, 2011 we had to wait three hours after our Gulf Air flight (GF 250) from Bahrain landed in Dhaka. This is too long a delay, by any standard.
When asked, a Biman official at the airport told us that with the manpower and equipment they have, they can't bring luggage any faster, if two or more international flights land within an hour or so of each other. Consequently, if two flights land at about the same time, it takes three hours to bring all the bags from both the flights to the belt. This is an unacceptably long delay, causing great inconvenience to arriving passengers.
Record shows that multiple flights from the Middle East and beyond, carrying thousands of passengers are indeed routinely scheduled to land daily in Dhaka airport within a short duration, especially in the morning. Thus waiting three hours for bags has become almost usual at Dhaka airport. Imagine the rage the long distance travellers, coming all the way from Australia, Europe and North America who start their journeys one to three days before they actually land in Dhaka, feel at this long, long delay in getting their bags.
In my forty plus years of international travels covering many countries, I have never experienced delays of more than an hour in getting bags at the belt, in any airport, anywhere, except in Dhaka. Yet, as we see it, the solution of this problem is not difficult or too costly. It needs a few more pick-up trucks and some part time drivers cum porters. The additional cost is very minimal, and can even be passed to the travellers in the form of additional taxes and/or baggage fees.
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