Water bus service resumes operation in Chattogram
In December 2019, the service was launched in a bid to cut travel time to the airport
Water bus service has resumed operation on the River Karnaphuli in Chattogram after a long-term suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With this, foreign-bound passengers can reach Shah Amanat International Airport from Sadarghat of Chattogram in 30/40 minutes by avoiding the traffic jam in the port city.
Md Sabbab Hossain, managing director of SS Trading, the company operating the waterbus services, told The Business Standard the waterbus service for Chattogram Airport passengershas resumed Sunday.
From now on, two waterbuses will carry passengers on a regular basis. The two water buses will make 11 trips on the Chattogram Sadarghat-Patenga route every day, he added.
Earlier on 9 December 2019, the waterbus service was launched in a bid to cut travel time to the airport. Despite huge response from passengers, the service had been shut down two months after its inauguration thanks to the pandemic.
The resumption of the waterbus services gives relief to airport-bound passengers.
Many passengers miss their flights from Chattogram airport because of long tailbacks on the roads leading to the airport.
There is constant traffic jam on the airport-bound road due to goods-carrying trucks, Lorries and covered vans from Chattogram port and some private container depots.
Additionally, the Agrabad part of Patenga to Lalkhan Bazar Elevated Expressway is now under construction, causing huge traffic congestion on that road.