Domestic airport for Palaviya

by Uditha KUMARASINGHE

The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to upgrade the Palaviya airport in the Puttalam district, which belongs to the Sri Lanka Air Force, as a domestic airport under a ministry project to develop domestic airports.

Following a recent inspection tour to the airport, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne instructed officials of the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited and Civil Aviation Authority to extend the present 1,000 metre runway of the airport to 1,500 metres to enable small aircraft to land.

This would provide an opportunity to tourists to come to Puttalam by small aircraft and easily visit areas such as the Kalpitiya Islands tourist zone, Wilpattu National Park and other key tourist attractions, a Civil Aviation Ministry spokesman told the Sunday Observer.

The Minister has also given instructions to shift the runway as the Puttalam cement factory chimney has become a hindrance to it. The construction work on the airport will commence this year with funds allocated through the 2012 Budget to develop domestic airports.

The Minister has also issued guidelines to the Ministry Secretary to appoint a technical committee so that the estimated cost of the project will be decided following the committee report.