Faster Luggage Handling to be Ensured at Airports: State Minister

State minister for civil aviation and tourism M Rashiduzzaman Millat on Tuesday said that the government planned to ensure that passengers, especially overseas travellers, received their luggage at the belt immediately after immigration process.

The initiative is part of a broader plan to improve airport services, he told reporters on his first working day at the Secretariat after assuming office.

‘We have already started planning. We want to redesign the airport along with chairman and secretary of civil aviation so that passengers do not face difficulties from ticketing to luggage handling,’ he said.

The state minister said that the aim was to prevent passengers from waiting one to two hours for their luggage and from falling victim to corruption.

On tackling syndicates in ticketing, he said that in many cases, flights went empty while people could not get tickets and syndicates were behind this. ’We have taken responsibility and are aware of the problems. Soon people will notice gradual but significant improvements. We aim to give a hint of change within the next one or two weeks,’ he added.

Responding to questions about investigating corruption over the past 15 years, he said that surely corruption allegations would be investigated, adding, ‘Many are already in jail. The sector is not fully corruption-free yet and we will work to fix that.’

He also said that he would sit with the secretary and relevant officials and hold discussions especially regarding tourism which was a major focus of the ministry.