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| Sunday, 14 July 2002 |
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Domestic airlines : Green light to fly Any company complying with the rules and regulations of civil aviation will be issued with a certificate to operate domestic air transport services, the Director General of Civil Aviation Lal Liyanarachchi said. The Department of Civil Aviation encourages competition which will help improve the standards of the industry. He said that Sri Lanka became a signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation in 1947. Therefore it is mandatory that Sri Lanka maintains at least minimum safety standards published by the ICAO. In no way can we deviate from or interpret the aviation standards to satisfy any individual requirements", he added. "We have received 13 applications to operate domestic flights and we were in the process of certifying three airlines - Expo Aviation Ltd., Intercity Airways and Lion Air Ltd. Except for Expo Aviation Ltd, the other two parties have not presented their aircraft to this department for inspection. "Since Expo Aviation came to a satisfactory level of operational safety complying with all standards, we issued the company with a certificate to operate a domestic passenger air service. It operates two flights a day from Ratmalana to Palali. The aircraft has a seating capacity for 95 persons. Mr Liyanarachchi said that according to a government directive, steps are being taken to inspect the runways at Trincomalee, Weerawila, Anuradhapura and Koggala with a view to resuming domestic civil passenger transport flights to and from these destinations. He said inspectors from the Department of Civil Aviation and Airport and Aviation Services will make the inspections with the cooperation of SLAF. Inspecting the runway conditions which include load bearing capacity, length of runways and other navigational facilities, the conditions of parking aprons and the basic facilities for passengers will be a priority. The basic facilities for the public include baggage checking and security facilities, waiting room facilities and transport facilities from the airport to the closest town. The responsibility of managing and maintaining airports lies with the Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. Mr. Liyanarachchi said the government has taken action to establish a Civil Aviation Authority under a separate act of parliament to replace the Department of Civil Aviation. The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka will be an Autonomous organisation independent of past practices and general norms and conditions of public service practices with a view to developing the aviation industry taking examples from countries in this region such as Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand and New Zealand. |
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