Zia International Airport

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Zia International Airport Zia Antorjatik Bimanbôndor
IATA: DAC - ICAO: VGZR
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh
Serves		Dhaka
Elevation AMSL		30 ft (9 m)
Coordinates		23°50′36″N, 090°23′52″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
14/32	10,500	3,200	Concrete/Asphalt

Zia International Airport (IATA: DAC, ICAO: VGZR) (Bengali: Zia Antorjatik Bimanbôndor) is the largest airport in Bangladesh located in Uttara, Dhaka. It started operation in 1981, and was named after Bangladesh's former president, Ziaur Rahman. It is the home base and hub of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and GMG Airlines.

It has an area of 1981 acres. Nearly 52% of the country's international and domestic arrivals and departures occur through Zia Airport, while country's second largest international airport at Chittagong handles about 17% of the passengers. About 3.8 million international and 0.8 million domestic passengers and 105,000 tons of freight and mail annually pass through Zia International Airport.

Zia Airport has terminal buildings, hangars, technical areas, a freight village (warehouse), and other modern equipment for handling aircraft. It connects almost all the major cities of the world with Bangladesh. From here, Biman Bangladesh goes to 31 cities on 4 continents.

[edit] Airlines

Air India (Kolkata, New Delhi)
Air Parabat (Domestic)
Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bangkok, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Jessore, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Heathrow, Manchester, Muscat, New Delhi, Rajshahi, Riyadh, Rome-Fiumicino, Singapore, Sylhet)
British Airways (London-Heathrow)
Cathay Pacific
- Dragonair (Hong Kong)
China Eastern Airlines (Beijing, Kunming)
Cosmic Air (Kathmandu)
Emirates (Dubai)
Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
GMG Airlines (Bangkok, Barisal, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Delhi, Jessore, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Sylhet)
Gulf Air (Bahrain, Muscat)
Indian Airlines (Kolkata)
Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
Pakistan International Airlines (Karachi)
Qatar Airways (Doha)
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Damman, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh)
Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
Thai Airways International (Bangkok)

[edit] Accidents

August 4, 1984 a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Chittagong crashed in the swamps near Zia airport [1]. All 45 passengers and 4 crew of the Fokker F-27 died. The flight was piloted by Kaniz Fatema Roksana, the country's first female commercial pilot.