BAF Base Bashar — also known as Tejgaon Airport — is a

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...

military base in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

also uses this military base. It is also the National Parade Square of Bangladesh. It served as the country's sole

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

prior to the construction of

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Dhaka (; ) is the main international airport serving Dhaka City, the capital city of Bangladesh, and it is the largest airport in the country. It is located in Kurmitola, from the city centre, in the ...

in 1980.

History

The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

had built military airstrips at Tejgaon, Dhaka during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for operating warplanes for the

Battle of Kohima The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Imperial Japan, Japanese Operation U-Go, U-Go offensive into British Raj, India in 1944 during the World War II, Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 19 ...

and other

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (horse), a ...

war threats. The construction of Tejgaon Airport at Dainodda started in 1941; and the building of a landing strip at Kurmitola (Balurghat) started at about the same time. The airstrips at Tejgaon and Kurmitola had military fighter plane landing facilities and the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

used the airstrips for maintenance and storage of their aircraft. There was also a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

detachment during the war. The first

RIAF The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British Raj, British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the British Indian Army, and the Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire. The ...

light fighter landed on the under‑construction runway of Tejgaon at the beginning of 1943. After the

Partition of British India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan is the Islam ...

in 1947, Tejgaon Airport became the first airport to operate civil aviation in the then-

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

and it was also a station of the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

. A number of other British-built military airstrips in Bangladeshi territory were also converted into civil airports – some during the East Pakistan period and some after independence. A few others were converted to STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) ports some years ago. And some still lie abandoned. The airstrips not yet converted to any civil airport of any kind are at Feni, Rajendrapur, Pahar Kanchanpur,

Chakaria Chakaria is a town in southeastern Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Chakaria Upazila in Cox's Bazar District. It is situated on the Matamuhuri River. Demographics According to the 2022 Bangladesh census, Chakaria city had a population of ...

and

Rasulpur Rasulpur Tarar is a village of Hafizabad District, Punjab, Pakistan. The village is part of Pindi Bhattian Tehsil. A road from the village leads to Jalalpur Bhattian and then to Hafizabad Hafizabad ( Punjabi / ; ; ) is a city and capital of ...

. On 1 March 1954, the No. 14 Squadron PAF was assigned to PAF Station Dacca and was the only Pakistani squadron in

during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. Following the transfer of civilian flights to the newly built Shahjalal International Airport in 1981, Tejgaon was taken under the control of the

's Base Bashar. In mid-2011, the Bangladesh Air Force raised objections to a proposed 19-metre high metro rail along Bijoy Sarani, arguing that the metro rail would hinder military air operations from the Tejgaon airstrip, it made a plea that the airfield be kept functional. The BAF also recommended an alternative route along Khamarbari-Farmgate which would affect the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex. The prime minister opted for the realignment of the route along the parliament complex in line with the BAF suggestion, a move which drew huge flak from different technical experts. The experts, including architects, planners and civic activists, termed the BAF stance unfounded on many occasions and strongly argued that the metro rail would not affect the present operations of the airfield. The airstrip hasn't been used since 1988 and it is seriously affecting Dhaka city's development. On 16 and 17 October 2011, the CAAB quietly upgraded it from a short take-off and landing (STOL) port to a domestic airport. This increased the importance of the airport. The CAAB had declared this on their website, however, its website details on navigational aides, air traffic service and aeronautical communications for air operations in Bangladesh territory didn't mention Tejgaon airfield as an airport. A domestic airport requires all the technical features and passenger services as an international airport as per rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation but the Tejgaon Airport does not have the services required for a STOL port.

Former airlines and destinations (before 1981)

Passenger

Accidents and incidents

*2 December 1970: a Canadair CL-44J freighter operated by

Cargolux Cargolux, officially known as ''Cargolux Airlines International S.A.'', is the flag carrier cargo airline of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. With a global network, it is among the largest scheduled all-cargo airl ...

aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much li ...

''TF-LLG'', crashed into farmhouses on approach to Tejgaon Airport. All four crew members and three people on the ground were killed. Investigators concluded that the

gust lock A gust lock on an aircraft is a mechanism that locks control surfaces and keeps open aircraft doors in place while the aircraft is parked on the ground and non-operational. Gust locks prevent wind from causing unexpected movements of the contro ...

system engaged and locked the controls in flight due to a hydraulic fault.

References

External links