Bangladesh working to claim its airspace too
Having settled the maritime boundary dispute with India and Myanmar, Bangladesh now wants to determine its Flight Information Region (FIR) in the airspace.
As Bangladesh has no control over the airspace, the country has to take permission from India and Myanmar for flights in those regions. Moreover, the overflying charge is going to those two countries.
Diplomatic sources said Bangladesh has been trying for several years to settle the issue with two neighbouring countries. Myanmar responded to Bangladesh's request in changing FIR last year.
India replied to Bangladesh's letter on Monday, diplomatic sources and officials of civil aviation ministry have confirmed this.
Sources said on the one hand Bangladesh is being deprived of overflying charge and on the other hand the information related to movements in the airspace inside the country is going to the other countries too, due to a portion of air space under the control of other countries despite the determination of the maritime boundary.
The maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar was settled in 2012 and with India in 2014.
Bangladesh started working on determining is airspace. A foreign ministry official said Kolkata FIR controls a portion of international air route over the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. A portion of Bangladesh along south Sundarbans falls in Kolkata FIR.
And a portion of St. Martin's Island and Chittagong Hill Tracts fall in FIR of Yangon in Myanmar.
According to the information on website of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), FIR is a specialised zone in the air route for the flight of aircraft, and through which the information of flight operation and warning message are sent.
Generally there is one FIR in a small country while more than one in a big country. Alongside in Kolkata of India, there are three more FIRs in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. Myanmar has two. Bangladesh has one FIR.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, foreign ministry (maritime affairs unit) secretary Md Khurshid Alam on Wednesday said Bangladesh has sent letters to India and Myanmar proposing changes and update of FIR.
Attention after the settlement of maritime boundary
After the settlement of maritime boundary with Myanmar and India, the boundary baseline in the Bay of Bengal was determined in 2015.
During that time at a high-level meeting of the government, an official underscored the need for the first time to amend FIR to make the movement in the air route sovereign.
The official said the sovereignty of Bangladesh has been established in the Bay of Bengal.
"It is very urgent to update the map of Bangladesh adjusting the airspace over the sea and the land," the official proposed.
After completion of necessary preparations, an application has to be filed with ICAO. Prior to this, the matter has to be discussed with the neighbouring countries.
As per the map, the cooperation of the neighbouring countries will be required for changing and updating FIR. As the amendment and changes of map of Bangladesh will not work, two neighbouring countries have to readjust their maps too by responding to the request of Bangladesh.
The civil aviation and tourism ministry sources said Bangladesh wanted to place this in a forum of four countries-Bangladesh, Myanmar, India and Thailand in 2017, seeking their cooperation in determining Bangladesh's portion of airspace. But the matter was not included in the agenda. Bangladesh formally placed the issue in the sixth meeting of that forum in 2018. India and Myanmar proposed to place the issue in diplomatic channels.
In 2019, the foreign ministry started working towards solving the matter diplomatically and sent letters to two countries. Myanmar responded positively last year.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on Tuesday, a diplomatic source in Delhi said India on Monday responded to the request Bangladesh made about changing FIR. Now the next steps will be taken.
Preferring not to be named, a senior official of the government said citing limited capacity, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh sought time after making amendment proposal in 2014.
At a high level meeting at that time, a proposal was made to purchase radars on an emergency basis and determine three to five air routes as an alternative of Kolkata FIR.
The civil aviation and tourism ministry sources said radars of Dhaka and Chattogram of the Civil Aviation Authority are very old. The two radars are merely able to navigate at best 250 nautical miles. So Bangladesh is unable to control air traffic over the new maritime boundary that it won.
Bangladesh is thus unable to collected overflying charge from the flights of international destinations in the airspace of those areas. The charge is going to India and Myanmar. The government started working last year to introduce automatic traffic management system including installation new radars to settle the issue.
Meanwhile, the process of purchasing radars is underway and preparation is going on to recruit the required workforce. Bangladesh would apply to ICAO to change FIR after creating a skilled workforce.
A source concerned said Bangladesh last year provided Myanmar a map about changing FIR. Myanmar informed Bangladesh that they had no objection to change FIR except an area of 46 kilometers.
According to diplomats and security analysts, the issue of airspace should be settled on an urgent basis soon after the finalisation of maritime boundary with two neighbouring countries as the matter is related to sovereignty and security of the country.
*This report, originally published in print and online edition, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.