Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport DAC

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is in Kurmitola, about 17 km north of central Dhaka, and by far the busiest airport in Bangladesh. It is the home base of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and of other national carriers such as US-Bangla, Novoair and Air Astra. It handled about 12.7 million passengers in 2025.

Terminals

Two buildings are in use today. The international terminal has arrivals on the ground floor and departures on the first floor. Domestic flights use a separate single-storey terminal right next door, with arrivals and departures on the same level; you can walk between the two. The new Terminal 3 was inaugurated in 2023 but is still not operating: a partial opening is expected in late 2026 or early 2027, so check with your airline which building your flight uses.

Airlines and destinations

Biman flies to Asia, the Middle East and a few European cities, and together with US-Bangla, Novoair and Air Astra it covers the domestic network (Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, Jessore, Rajshahi, Saidpur and more). Foreign airlines, mostly from the Gulf and from South and Southeast Asia, also serve Dhaka. Traffic is heavily shaped by migrant workers travelling to the Middle East.

Services

You will find ATMs, currency exchange, duty-free shops, cafés and several lounges run by hotels and banks. There is a railway station next to the airport.

Tips

Dhaka traffic is very heavy and the Airport Road approach can take far longer than expected at peak hours, so leave plenty of margin. For international departures arrive at least three hours early, as security and immigration checks are often slow. International arrivals has a prepaid taxi counter, which is easier than haggling over a fare outside.