Important milestone in Lanka's aviation history:

Mattala to provide full international airline facilities

By Ranil Wijayapala

The Mattala Airport is ready to launch operations

A waiting area

Infrastructure is now in place

The interior of the airport

As the dates are fixed for the grand opening of the second international airport of Sri Lanka, the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), marking another important milestone in the aviation history of the country, Sri Lanka's national carrier SriLankan Airlines is gearing to take up the challenge of providing its services at the airport in conformity with international standards. Chairman of Sri Lanka's national carrier SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickremasinghe, in an interview with the Sunday Observer , explained the preparations to launch operations at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport. He said the national carrier has taken the lead to market Mattala as one of the most sought after airports.

Wickremasinghe said that SriLankan planned and prepared for the event from the date they were informed, two years back, that they should go there. "We have trained our personnel and kept them there so that at short notice, we can go there. We are going there early next month", he said, explaining how SriLankan prepared for the operations in Mattala.

"SriLankan, as the sole authority of ground handling and catering at the MRIA, has invested more than Rs. 1.1 billion on ground handling facilities and for a kitchen for catering purposes", Wickremasinghe said. "We think that investment is not only for SriLankan, but is also a massive investment for the country as we are having the second international airport", he said. He said SriLankan has invested Rs. 700 million on ground handling facilities and another Rs. 300 million on the construction of a properly equipped kitchen for catering facilities.

"We will be the sole provider of food to the airport. So we will be providing food and beverages to all the airlines that come there, both foreign and local. They will pick food and beverages from us, depending on their requirements", he said.

International level

"That is going to be Sri Lanka's second international airport and the facilities should be of international level. So that investment is necessary to keep our services up to international standards. We have invested not only in material, but also in human resources. We have to train them and bring them to Mattala and we have done that already", he said.

For the catering services and ground handling, SriLankan has given priority to recruit staff from the area itself. "We are still continuing recruitment from the area because that facilitates accommodation and other requirements. Only the key people will be sent there from Colombo and gradually they will be able to run their own establishment there", he said.

"We are thinking very big on Mattala and we have already spoken to other big airlines, and maintenance outlets and we are going to have joint ventures there. We will operate maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities there. We are targeting to attract other airlines, mainly from the Asian region, to Mattala to get their aircraft for routine maintenance", he said.

Along with that facility, SriLankan is also planning to start a training school to the standards of the International Aviation Academy to train not only cabin crew, but also technical and engineering personnel. "We will affiliate the Academy to a leading university and we will declare a centre with flying school and other aviation facilities in one place. This is very important", he said. "To do all these, we have ample space in Mattala. People may ask why we are doing all this in Mattala and not in Katunayake. The reason is, in Katunayake we don't have land to expand our facilities, but here we have a lot of space", he said.

Environment-friendly

"On the other hand, Mattala airport is very environmental friendly. Therefore, the pollution levels are going to be very low and we can mitigate environmental pollution with space available for that", he said.

Not only providing other services as the national carrier, SriLankan has also to take the leading role in attracting more flights to Mattala airport.

"We have already scheduled flights from Colombo to touch down at Mattala Airport when SriLankan is flying to destinations such as Riyadh, Shanghai, Beijing, Male and Bodh Gaya, starting from March 18. We have identified Mattala as an attraction for the tourists as it has many tourist attractions such as dolphin and whale watching and wildlife. We have seaplanes and amphibious planes and we are going to operate amphibious planes, enabling tourists to reach destinations from Passikudah to Bentota within a short period of time", he said.

"There are tourists going to Male to enjoy the sea.

We also have sea, but in addition we have dolphin and whale watching sanctuaries, bears, leopards, birds and all types of things. So they can enjoy those things here if we can give them a one week package or something to attract them to Sri Lanka and visit this part of the country", he said. Apart from that, tourists interested in the gem industry also can easily fly to Ratnapura from Mattala. "We are going to operate from Passikudah downwards, going up to Bentota for the attraction of tourists," he said.

Wickremasinghe said having two international airports is not a luxury. "It is absolutely important for Sri Lanka as we don't have an alternative airport. Every country has two or three airports. In our case, if bad weather prevents a landing in Colombo, we have to go to India to land our aircraft. We have to divert them to so many destinations. With Mattala, we can divert them within Sri Lanka.

And even other airlines which are coming to Sri Lanka due to bad weather can land in Mattala. At present, we are sending them to Madras and Chennai", he said.

According to the SriLankan Chairman, having two international airports in Sri Lanka is an added advantage for Sri Lankans as they can have easy access to the airport from their area without having to travel to Katunayake.

"We have a lot of Sri Lankans employed in the Middle East. Mattala will be closer to their hometowns and with the opening of the airport, we can distribute the Sri Lankan passengers from the southern parts of the country and the other parts of the country", he said.

One million passengers

"The Government is targeting one million passengers per annum at the first phase of the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa Airport and it is us who should achieve that target. Otherwise, it is our failure. We are ready to take up that challenge by promoting Mattala among other airlines also", he said. The status given to Sri Lanka as one of the best tourist attraction in the world by international magazines such as National Geographic and Lonely Planet will also be an added advantage for SriLankan to achieve that target.

Commenting on the Open Skies policy to be adopted on Mattala airport, Wickremasinghe said that if the airlines want 'fifth and sixth freedom' that particular airline or the country has to reciprocate with SriLankan Airlines.

"What we are saying is that they can come and go out. But if they want fifth freedom or sixth freedom, that particular airline and the country has to reciprocate the same way with us.

If I allow airlines to come to Mattala and go to Male, we have no objection. If we give the fifth and sixth freedom, they can come to Mattala and take our passengers and go to Male, we don't have any objections provided we get the same freedom when we fly to that country. It should be equal.

A lot of airlines don't do that. That is the difference", he said.

He said Singapore and Dubai are different from Mattala as they are already airport hubs. "However, Mattala is different. SriLankan has to build up the facilities there. We are not worried and we are not against any airline coming. We are going on the fifth and sixth freedom if they are reciprocating on equal terms, not otherwise. Every country protects its national carrier. It has to be the same here too", he said.

Wickremasinghe said the opening of the Mattala Airport will lay a strong foundation to make Sri Lanka's dream to become an aviation hub in the region true.

"By opening the Mattala airport itself, we can't create an aviation hub. We should have engineering facilities of international level for others to come. When we say an aviation hub, they should come to Sri Lanka for training, maintenance of aircraft and other aviation services, and not only to bring some tourists and have a visit. All the other requirements should be fulfilled. That can be done at Mattala though it is difficult to be done in Colombo due to limited space", he said.