Dhaka, Jan. 29 -- The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has taken a policy decision to split the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) into separate regulator and operator agencies.

The decision was communicated to the CAAB through an official letter sent by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on Wednesday.

A press release from the ministry on Thursday said that CAAB had been performing the two roles simultaneously.

On the one hand, CAAB oversaw the safety and security of aviation as a regulator. On the other hand, as an operator, it provided air navigation services and ran airports.

The government believes that this creates a "conflict of interest" in making decisions about the operator's work as a regulator.

The...