Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport opens tomorrow:

A milestone in aviation history

by Ranil Wijayapala

Today, Sri Lanka is just one day ahead of passing yet another important milestone in the development process of the country similar to the ones we have passed in the development drive in the past few years. Many of them were dream we thought would never see the light of day. But, Sri Lankans today are fortunate to see those dreams materialise.

The opening of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), the event which we are just waiting to witness in another 24 hours is one such dream that became reality in a short time frame.

Prasanna Wickramasuriya, Chairman Airport and Aviation Service Ltd, the man who tirelessly worked to make this dream of President Mahinda Rajapaksa a reality while speaking to the Sunday Observer about this mega project costing 220 million US dollars said that the dream of having a second international airport, which was confined only to documents, plans and discussions for decades under different governments, a reality, was not an easy task.

”It was after the determined and dedicated effort under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who always has the capacity to make unrealistic dreams a reality that Sri Lanka's long-awaited dream because a reality”, he said.

Wonder of Asia

As a country that has just emerged from a three-decade war on terrorism Sri Lanka has set many targets to make Sri Lanka the “Wonder of Asia' the slogan under the vision of the Mahinda Chinthana. Making Sri Lanka a shipping hub, aviation hub and education hub has been given priority.

The, MRIA which was started on November 24, 2009 with the ground breaking ceremony been completed as a sophisticated and eco-friendly airport in a spacious land of 2000 hectares with the completion of its first phase to be declared open tomorrow.

”By making the vision of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport a reality, a strong foundation has been laid under Mahinda Chinthana to make it an aviation hub in the Asian region, Prasanna Wickramasuriya, said.

Bandaranaike International Airport

Speaking to the Sunday Observer, at his office in the busy Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport, the first International Airport of Sri Lanka, Wickramasuriya said that if Sri Lanka is to be an aviation hub it cannot achieve this by having one airport which can accommodate six million passengers.

”We cannot make that dream a reality only with the Katunayake airport which has handled 7.2 million passengers last year exceeding its designed capacity of six million passengers a year. The opening of the MRIA comes at a very appropriate time”, Wickremasuriya said.

”We are in the process of expanding the Katunayake airport to increase capacity to handle nine million passengers per year at its second phase of expansion”, he added.

With the opening of the first phase of the MRIA on March 18, and the implementation of the second phase of it to handle five million passengers a year, Sri Lanka will be in a position to handle 15 million passengers a year at the two international airports in Sri Lanka.

”We have to move fast in the process of making Sri Lanka an aviation hub in the Asian region and the opening of this Mattala international airport will enable to achieve that target faster”, Wickramasuriya added.

However, the Chairman refuting allegations that there is no intention for the Government to close katunayake airport, as speculated.

”If that is so why we are constructing such a massive expressway to link Katunayake, BIA with the commercial capital of Colombo and to link it with the South through the Outer Circular Highway and the Southern Highway”, Wickramasuriya said scotching the speculation.

”How can we achieve the target of handling 15 million air passengers in Sri Lanka in 2015 if we close Katunayake airport and have only the Mattala airport which can handle only five million passengers at the completion of the second phase itself?”, Wickramasuriya said.

There is criticism over selecting Mattala as the site.

”The site selected for the second international airport, unlike the Katunayake airport which is bordering only the North Western province, is on the border of three provinces, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Eastern provinces and it is close to tourist attractions such as Nuwara Eliya, Arugam Bay, Pasikuda and Yala”, Wickramasuriya said.

According to Wickramasuriya, Mattala is an easy location to people employed abroad and whose families live in close proximity to Mattala.

”The site was not selected because it was in Hambantota, it was selected after conducting, environmental, social and technical evaluations by experts in field”, he said.

He said that Weerawila, the original location identified for the project had to be shifted to Mattala as on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the face of protests of paddy farmers as it was affecting 500 hectares of paddy land.

The concept behind MRIA is also based on President Mahinda Rajapaksa's concept of distributing the Gross Domestic Product equally among the provinces without confining a major share to the Western Province.

Three provinces

”The selection of Mattala will benefit not only that area but also the three provinces bordering it”, Wickramasuriya said the fact that 50 percent of the country's GDP is shared by the Western province while the other eight provinces are sharing the balance 50 percent of GDP of the country.

”The insurrections in the North and South emerged due to unequal distribution of GDP among the provinces. We have to take development to other parts of the country also, enabling people in the remotest parts of the country to benefit from these mega development projects”, Wickramasuriya said.

He said the prime focus of the Mahinda Chinthana vision is to provide a value to different parts of the country. “That is why we are constructing expressways, ports and implementing other development activities. The value of the country from the time of independence has increased many fold. It is not only monetary value of land, it is human resources as well”, he said.

”I think there are lot of benefits for any country if it has having two international airports. Earlier international airlines were reluctant to come to Sri Lanka due to terrorism. Apart from that when there is a weather disturbance we do not have an alternative airport to land aircraft in emergencies”, he said.

International airlines

When international airlines touch here they have to bring large stocks of fuel if there is no other alternative airport for them to land in emergency situations.

In the absence of a second international airport Sri Lanka had to divert aircraft to neighbouring India in an emergency. “Now there is no need for such a situation because we have an alternative airport”, he said. MRIA was constructed to attract international flights passing Sri Lanka air space.

”The number of aircraft passing our air space has increased now.

Since Mattala has the capacity to facilitate landing and take off of the A 380, the largest aircraft in the world. This is a plus point when planning their routes.

”International airlines such as Emirates and Qantas airlines have A380 aircraft and these airlines are also considering landing in Mattala. There is a possibility for some of these senior officials from these two airlines participating at the opening of Mattala airport, he added.

Wickremasuriya said though Katunayake airport which was started in 1963, it was elevated to an international airport in 1968. “But, Mattala will operate as an international airport from day one as a number of international airlines are starting flights on the day of the opening itself. Air Arabia is flying from Mattala to Sharjah airport on the day while Fly Dubai will also operate flights from there. SriLankan has scheduled flights to Beijing, Riyadh, Male via Mattala while Mihin Lanka is scheduled to fly to Buddha Gaya”, Wickramasuriya said.

”Emirates, Qatar Airlines, Thai Airways and Air Asia are keen to operate flights from Mattala. We are carrying out a market promotion to attract more international flights to Mattala”, he added. ”There is no additional burden on the passengers in starting their journey from Mattla. We are not imposing an additional burden on them” he added.

Tourists can benefit since they can reach their desired destinations easily.

If tourists bound for Nuwara Eliya, Batticaloa, Arugam Bay or the Southern beaches this will be the ideal airport without wasting time travelling by road to these areas.

”Since we have the Hambantota port a minutes drive from the MRIA this will be an ideal location to promote flying cruise tourists in the future”, he said.

He also said that parallel to the improvement of tourism in the country they are planning to start more domestic flights from Mattala in the near future. There will be flights to Ratmalana, Jaffna, Trincomalee and various other destinations enabling passengers to buy air tickets directly to those destinations.

Tourism sector

But the tourism sector is not the only sector to benefit from the MRIA. Farming community will also benefit as they get the chance to export perishable items faster as they can transport them directly from flights.

However, the Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Service Limited said the construction of the MRIA is not only for business purpose.

”The aviation service is a service. We are proud to say that the Airport and Aviation Company is running at a profit at present. We are not depending on funds from the Treasury. We are offering a service to the country. We will run this as a service. But we believe that we can run the airport as a profitable one as we have already carried out a marketing promotion program to attract more international flights”, he added.

”But this is not an airport in isolation. There are many other development activities around this airport and it will attract many more investors. So we are hopeful that the opening of the MRIA will also enable many more links to the international community to reach us”, he added.