Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) held its first public hearing at Cox's Bazar Airport on, 7 months (219 days) after the government mandated monthly hearings across all ministries and departments.

Hearing took place on Friday at 10:00 am in the airport’s departure lounge. S M Lablur Rahman, Additional Secretary and CAAB Member (Administration), attended the event as the chief guest.

During the session, mass media worker, passengers and stakeholders raised several complaints, including poor washroom conditions, high food prices, flight delays, baggage handling problems, and inadequate passenger information systems.

Notably, directive for regular public hearings was issued on June 20 last year following a high-level meeting of the Chief Adviser’s Office. Meeting aimed to speed up implementation of the Public Administration Reform Commission’s recommendations.

Out of 121 proposals, eight were identified as immediately implementable. Regular public hearings were listed among these priority recommendations.

On the same day (1 year 9 days ago), Cabinet Division was instructed to hold meetings with all service-providing ministries and divisions within one week to develop a public hearing strategy.

However, Cox’s Bazar Airport conducted its first hearing only on January 29 this year, missing the monthly schedule for seven consecutive months.

Discussions on that day revealed systematic service failures requiring immediate attention. Participants raised concerns about cleanliness, waiting lounge conditions, parking facilities and passenger information systems. Officials were forced to address basic issues like prior notification for flight delays, a standard practice at international airports.

CAAB’s official press release signed by Muhammad Kawsar Mahmud, Assistant Director for Public Relations at CAAB acknowledged need to ‘activate’ complaint management cell, suggesting the system existed on paper but remained non-functional for passengers. CAAB promised immediately resolvable issues would receive prompt attention, raising questions why problems persisted if solutions were readily available.

Press release also reads that the hearing would enhance transparency and accountability. However, 7-month delay in implementing a government directive already undermines these claims.

According to the original decision, the Cabinet Division was required to finalize a public hearing strategy within one week of the June 2025 directive. The delay at Cox’s Bazar Airport has raised concerns regarding CAAB’s pace of reform implementation across the country’s aviation sector.