Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Bangladesh’s main international gateway, resumed late Saturday evening, six hours after a massive fire in the airport’s cargo terminal disrupted air traffic and forced the suspension of operations.
The first flight departed at 9.06 pm local time (8.36 pm IST), airport officials confirmed. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism said that the blaze had been fully brought under control. “Steps will be taken to identify the source of the fire and implement measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” the ministry said in an official statement.
The fire broke out earlier in the afternoon in the cargo section of the airport, sending thick plumes of smoke across the city and prompting an immediate large-scale emergency response. Around 37 firefighting units were deployed to battle the flames, with the Bangladesh Army, Navy, and Air Force joining the Fire Service in containing the blaze.
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/fire-breaks-out-at-dhakas-hazrat-shahjalal-international-airport-in-bangladesh-all-flights-suspended-2805152-2025-10-18
Airport officials confirmed that all aircraft on the ground were safe and that there were no casualties reported. Both domestic and international flights were affected by the closure. Several flights had to be diverted: an IndiGo service from Delhi to Dhaka was rerouted to Kolkata, while an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates was sent to Chittagong, approximately 250 km southeast of Dhaka.
Earlier in the day, flight operations had been suspended as a precaution. Airport official Masudul Hasan assured passengers that emergency protocols had been swiftly implemented to ensure safety, while airlines worked to manage delays and provide support to affected travellers.
This incident marks the third major fire in Bangladesh within the span of a week. On Tuesday, a fire at a garment factory and an adjacent chemical warehouse in Dhaka killed at least 16 people and injured several others. On Thursday, another blaze destroyed a seven-storey garment factory building in an export processing zone in Chittagong.
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Published By:
Sonali Verma
Published On:
Oct 18, 2025
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