Air passengers complain of harassment, luggage going missing at Dhaka airport
Civil Aviation Authority chairman says training courses on “proper manner” will be introduced for airport staff as misconducts with passengers have become too frequent
In his 27-year stay in Saudi Arabia, Bangladeshi expatriate Ishaq Ali travelled home 25 times. He said the harassment while collecting luggage at Dhaka airport and the rude behaviour of airport staff marred the joy of his homecoming – each time.
"Valuables get stolen from passengers' luggage at the airport. I complained to the authorities about this several times, but to no avail," Ishaq, who returned to Dhaka from Jeddah last on 8 July, told a public hearing of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) at Dhaka airport on Wednesday.
Most of the people who took part in the hearing were annoyed at poor luggage delivery, harassment and ill-treatment at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
Caab Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman also said, "Misconduct with ordinary passengers at the airport has become a regular occurrence."
He told the hearing that he would introduce special training courses on proper manners for the airport staff. The course will cover immigration, customs and police personnel working at the airport.
"None will be able to work here while misbehaving with passengers," the Caab chief said in the programme on improving the standard of services to passengers at the airport.
Referring to the incident of a passenger being slapped by a customs officer at Dhaka airport recently, the Caab chairman said, "We are shocked by this. No one has the right to hurt a passenger even if they make a mistake. Stern action is being taken against the staff who did that."
In the public hearing, a passenger complained that cars and CNG-run auto-rickshaws at the airport overcharge the travellers. Most of the time, one has to reach the destination by paying several times more than the normal fare.
Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said they are monitoring this "very closely".
"We are working with the expatriates' welfare ministry to arrange transportation for the expatriates. We will arrange shuttle buses. The buses will pick passengers from the airport to several destinations," he said.
Upon receiving several complaints against SalamAir for not notifying passengers about flight rescheduling, the Caab chairman said the Oman headquartered airliner must take responsibility for the sufferings of the passengers.
According to allegations, the SalamAir passengers reached the airport from faraway districts on Wednesday morning to catch the flight at noon. But the airliner told the Oman-bound Bangladeshi expats that the trip had already been rescheduled.
The Caab chief told the airliner representatives, "You must send the passengers to Oman by tomorrow. And you will have to arrange for their food and accommodation in the meantime."
At the beginning of Wednesday's hearing, the airport authorities talked about the complaints and suggestions from passengers in the previous one.
Dhaka airport Executive Director Group Captain Muhammed Kamrul Islam claimed that passenger suffering in retrieving the luggage has dropped to less than 1%.
