To increase passenger capacity to nine million:

Major development at BIA

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

While the construction of the second international airport is going on schedule in Mattala a major development drive is planned to revamp the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

BIA was created in 1944 by the Royal Air Force as an airfield and in 1957, the then Prime Minister, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike handed it over to the Royal Ceylon Air Force renaming it Katunayake Airport.

In 1964 Anil Moonesinghe, the Cabinet Minister of Communications commenced the building of a new international airport to replace Ratmalana, with Canadian aid. The airport was completed in 1967, and Air Ceylon, the national carrier, began international operations. The airport was named Bandaranaike International Airport, after former Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, in 1970. It was renamed Katunayake International Airport in 1977, but was changed back to Bandaranaike International Airport in 1995.

Since then the airport has seen some development. A pier with eight aero-bridges opened in 2000. Under this government it is to be positioned as one of the best airports in the region.

Parliamentarians enjoying a ride in the Airport Express train

Chairman AASL Prasanna Wickramasuriya and CEO of Alpha Orient, Dimantha Kinigama, at the opening of playport kids play area.

Chairman Airport and Aviation, Prasanna Wickramasuriya said that a new terminal with an additional eight gates is proposed to be built and expected to be completed in 2012.

He said that the proposed Colombo-Katunayake highway which would be completed early next year would bring a passenger to the airport from Colombo in less than 45 minutes.

In addition the present luxury train would be extended inside the airport. "We are planning to extend the rail line so that even containers could be brought inside the terminal,"he said. "We also have plans to extend the Colombo-Katunayake airport express train to Ratmalana."

The train fare too has been reduced to Rs. 500 one way and the train is equipped with Air conditioning, television and several other luxuries.

"Our aim is to increase the passenger capacity from six million to nine million by 2013." The region's first star class airport hotel too is going to be built next year and the Board of Investment has also found an investor. "We will provide land adjoining the airport and this would be a major attraction to the country as well and would increase the airport's ability as a regional passenger hub," he said.

Minister of Ports and Aviation, Chamal Rajapaksa declared open the newly constructed Transit Hotel Complex at the Bandaranaike International Airport recently.

This hotel complex consists of 24 rooms categorised into four types depending on the facilities provided. It also has a conference hall and spa.

One of the other major developments is the new domestic airport which would be built at the old Airport catering building. The main objective is to enable a passenger to take a connecting flight to several domestic airports which are being developed.

Both Palali and Trincomalee domestic airports are being developed with regular scheduled flights already in operation. Mihin Lanka has announced that they would be starting Colombo-Jaffna domestic flights from BIA.

In the Kilinochchi District, 8,000 acres of land in the Iranamadu area has been earmarked to build a mini international airport. The estimated cost is Rs. 70 Million.

"This would enable passengers to take domestic flights to Jaffna, Mattala and other destinations which are currently being upgraded," he said. Recently the Chairman, AASL also addressed investors on the investment opportunities that exist in direct aviation related ventures such as aircraft MROs, aircraft painting, and flying schools as well as in connected trades such as hospitality, tourism, freight forwarding, and courier services at the new airport in Mattala. He also mentioned the numerous benefits that await investors and invited them to move in early.

Investors were also shown a live coverage of the construction work in progress at the site at Mattala, Hambantota. Plans are also under way to convert Ratmalana as a City airport.

Play port

The Government hopes to invest around 360 million US dollars on this program.

Meanwhile Playport - a kid's play area facility was introduced to the BIA making another significant contribution in the development of the airport. Major airports around the world cater to travelling families by including kids play areas.

Having identified this need, Alpha Orient Lanka the leading Duty Free Retailer has donated a kids play area to Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited.

This added new facility was opened by recently Chairman, AASL ,Wickramasuriya.

New airlines

While SriLankan airlines is adding on new destinations, Sri Lanka's budget airline Mihin Lanka is bringing down their second aircraft from Scotland. Mihin will be the only airline to operate direct flights to both Jakarta and Bangladesh.

With Sri Lanka expected to attract 2.5 million tourists many intentional airlines are expected to fly to Colombo.

India's low cost carrier SpiceJet began flights to BIA in October, which is their second international operation.

In addition Jetairfly, an EU-based tour giant and one of Europe's largest charter airlines has included Sri Lanka into its winter catalogue promoting the island as its newest destination.

Present airlines also want to increase their air connectivity frequency creating the need for more international airports for the country. This is why the Government has accelerated the development of airports and is getting the infrastructure ready to meet this goal of 2.5 million tourists by 2015.