US-Iran War: Flights Increase, Travelers Decline in Chattogram
Cockpit of a Bangladesh Biman aircraft. Photo: Mazed Chowdhury.
A strange paradox has emerged in international tourists transport at Shah Amanat International Airport, the country's second-largest airport. By normal logic, an increase in flights should lead to an increase in boarders' numbers, but the opposite has happened here. Last year, an average of 83,000 passengers traveled per month, but this year the average has decreased by over 8,500.
In the first five months of the year, no new airline started operations at this airport, nor did any suspend services. Existing airlines simply increased the number of flights on international routes. However, passenger numbers have been steadily declining. As a result, airlines are now carrying far fewer passengers than their capacity.
Currently, five airlines operate regular international flights from Chattogram. They are: state-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines, private US-Bangla Airlines, Dubai-based Flydubai, Sharjah-based Air Arabia, and Oman-based Salam Air.
Air Arabia operates the highest number of flights from Chattogram—190 per month. Their passenger capacity to Sharjah and Abu Dhabi stands at 38,000 per month. A senior official of the airline said that the Middle East conflict is the primary reason for this reverse trend. Due to the war, many expatriates have been forced to return home, while new workers have been unable to go to the Middle East for jobs. Although expatriates came home during Eid, many did not return due to fears prolongiong war. This has created an imbalance, with one-way passenger traffic now prevailing—a situation never seen before.
Why aren't airlines reducing flights despite fewer passengers?
In response to such a question, senior official Sohel Majid said, "Abruptly altering the number of flights creates a negative perception in the market. The number of aircraft to operate on a route is determined in advance. Airlines announce their flight schedules only after calculating profits and losses."
In January 2026, 85,000 passengers traveled on 607 international flights. In February, the number of flights increased to 630, yet passengers dropped by 13,500 to 71,500. In March, the number of flights further increased by 41 (to 671). Despite this significant jump in flights, passenger numbers did not rise proportionally—against those 41 additional flights, the passenger count increased by only 3,000, reaching 74,500.
In April, the number of flights reached the year's highest at 685. In contrast, passenger numbers dropped to 73,729. In the most recent month, May, 652 international flights carried only 67,765 passengers—the lowest figure so far.
An analysis of airport data reveals that in January, an average of 140 passengers traveled per flight, whereas in April that number fell to 107, and in May it dropped further to just 103 passengers per flight. The capacity of each flight ranges from 172 to 420 passengers.
Another reason behind the decline in passengers on international routes is the Iran-America war. During that period, more than 174 flights from Chattogram Airport had to be temporarily cancelled or rescheduled. This instability caused thousands of regular expatriate workers and business travellers to cancel or postpone their travel plans.
However, Chattogram Airport spokesperson Engineer Ibrahim Khalil said, "The actual picture of the airport cannot be understood from mere five months data. Our passenger and flight movements increase mainly during winter. From October to January, our flight operations remain open 24 hours. Currently, the Air Traffic Control tower operates from 5:30 PM to 11:30 PM. Moreover, many Hajj flights have operated during May and June; once that data is included, passenger numbers will increase further."
From January to May 2026, a total of 372,838 international passengers arrived and departed from Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport. The monthly average stands at 74,500. If this trend continues, the total number of passenger arrivals and departures by the end of the year will reach 895,000. However, in 2025, nearly 1 million international passengers traveled through this airport. In 2024, that number was 921,000.
