The problem all four airports share
Bangladeshi arrivals halls are busy, and the area immediately outside them is busier. You will be approached — repeatedly and insistently — by people offering transport. Some are legitimate operators. None of them are the driver you booked.
The solution is not vigilance, it is preparation. If you know the driver's name, the vehicle, and exactly where to walk, the crowd becomes irrelevant.
Dhaka — Hazrat Shahjalal (DAC)
The country's main gateway, in the north of the city at Kurmitola. International arrivals currently use Terminals 1 and 2, with a separate domestic terminal; a third terminal has been built and is expected to open in phases.
Immigration and baggage can be slow when several long-haul flights land together in the early hours. Tell whoever is meeting you not to worry about a long gap between landing and your appearance.
An official meet-and-greet assistance service operates at HSIA for passengers who want help through immigration and baggage. It is separate from transport and worth considering if you are travelling with someone elderly or unwell. Full detail on our Dhaka airport page.
Sylhet — Osmani International (ZYL)
Small, straightforward, about 7 km north of the city — and completely overwhelmed on the nights the UK services land. The terminal itself is quick; the area outside is not.
Because arrivals is compact, we usually agree a meeting point slightly away from the immediate exit rather than directly outside the doors. It is a short walk and makes finding each other far easier. See the Sylhet airport page.
Chattogram — Shah Amanat (CGP) and Cox's Bazar (CXB)
Chattogram is calmer than Dhaka and about 15 km from Agrabad. Most bookings here are not city transfers at all but the four-to-five hour run south to the coast.
Cox's Bazar is the smallest and the easiest, minutes from the hotel strip — though in peak season the short transfer is exactly when a pre-booked car earns its price.
How waiting and delays should work
A competent provider monitors your flight and adjusts the driver's arrival. Delay outside your control should not be charged as waiting time.
A complimentary waiting period after landing should be included and stated in your confirmation, with a clear hourly rate beyond it. If a provider will not tell you their waiting policy in advance, that tells you something useful.
Getting the vehicle size right
This is the single most common airport transfer failure, and it is almost always luggage rather than passengers. Four adults arriving from Britain with two cases each will not fit in a saloon.
Send your passenger and case counts. For most arriving families the answer is a 7-seat MPV, an 11-seat microbus or the 13-seat Grand Cabin.
