Bangladesh airport fire could cost over $1 billion in losses

The 27-hour inferno that brought Bangladesh’s main airport to a standstill on 18 October 2025, halting and diverting flights and affecting cargo at the major export hub, is estimated to have caused more than $1 billion (over €861 million) in losses. Around 35 people are said by local media to have been injured in the blaze.

Operations at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport resumed after around six hours, but both domestic and international flights were affected. According to Reuters, these included an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, which had to be redirected to Chittagong, about 250 km (155 miles) southeast of Dhaka. Meanwhile, an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Dhaka had to be diverted to Kolkata. And a Cathay Pacific flight was reported circling in the skies above Dhaka as 36 firefighting units fought to get the airport blaze under control, with the help of all three branches of the military.

🚨Massive fire at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s Cargo Village on Oct 19 could cause nearly $1 billion in export losses.

The blaze hit during the peak garment export season, dealing a heavy blow to Bangladesh’s economy. 🇧🇩🔥 pic.twitter.com/JUuCXEtWqV

— ARIKA🇮🇳🚩 (@nidhisj2001) October 21, 2025

But the loss estimates are not only the result of interruptions to commercial passenger flights. The fire took place in the airport’s cargo village, where chemicals, fabrics, and pharmaceuticals are kept, as well as other items. As the world’s second biggest garment exporter after China, Bangladesh now faces direct and indirect damage worth over $1 billion (over €861 million), the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association told the press – figures confirmed in an email to the BBC by the International Air Express Association of Bangladesh.

No explanation has yet been put forward as to how the fire started, fuelling online speculation that the outbreak was deliberately started and is linked to other recent fires in the South Asian nation – conspiracy theories similar to those used for political gain in the past, when opponents have often blamed each other for catastrophes and investigations have gone cold.

To combat the rumour mill effect of such failures of justice, the country’s interim government said on Saturday it would act to bring perpetrators to justice if “any credible evidence of sabotage or arson is found.”

But such fires are not infrequent in Bangladesh, a territory whose apparel and export industry serves international giants like Walmart and is worth around $40 billion (€34.5 billion) a year, according to the BBC, more than 10% of GDP, yet is often associated with substandard facilities. Combined with dense living quarters and poor regulatory oversight, it’s a recipe for disaster that can kill hundreds every year. The Khaleej Times has reported that over 26,000 fires took place in 2024 alone.