Travel / Lifestyle

Ruhunu open skies an impetus to international airport in H'tota

by Lalin Fernandopulle

The proposed International Airport under the 'Ruhunu Open Skies' program, a mega event of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) will be launched in Hambantota on November 20.

This will be the second International Airport with modern aviation facilities built on a 4,000 metre area to land eight aircraft. The proposed site for the airport will be the existing airstrip at the east coast of Hambantota.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will lay the foundation stone for the project which will be marked by the Airbus 320 of the SriLankan Airlines flying over the site symbolising international air transport from Weerawila.

The CAASL has planned a series of aviation activities such as the flying school, general aviation activity, hang gliding, powered hang gliding, para gliding, para jumping, sail para flying, ballooning, float plane operations, micro and ultra light flying, model aircraft flying and shipping lane operations by helicopters. The proposed area includes the coastal belt from Kalutara to Arugam Bay in Pottuvil and the adjacent 200NM maritime economic zone.

The advantages of selecting the area are the varying landscape, the conducive weather conditions, the sea lane in the South, the coastal belt and the basic infrastructure.

The shipping lane operations by helicopters is a vibrant commercial venture where services such as crew transfers, medical evacuations, specialist and para medics for emergency, airlift on board the ship, supply of fresh food and other ration, goods transfer and supply of spares and machinery could be carried out, Deputy Director Aviation Sec.Wg.Cdr. Sunil Cabraal said. The services are provided through winch operations, landing and under slung (sling operations).

The development plan provides a framework to develop aviation in the Southern region which will boost the country's economy and the quality of the people with employment, Cabraal said.

Director Aeronautical Services D.M.P. Dissanayake said the Ruhunu Open Skies program will be an incentive to develop the tourism and leisure industry providing an ideal opportunity for aviation enthusiasts to experience the marvels of aerial activity.

Aviation activities will be monitored and regulated by the CAASL. All flying enthusiasts, hobby and leisure flyers who intend participating in the Ruhunu Open Skies program should register with the CAASL before November 10.

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Emirates expands global network

Dubai-based carrier, Emirates, lived up to its reputation of being one of the fastest growing global airlines, as it launched services to new gateways in North Africa and India and added capacity to its existing New York and Zurich routes, all in the span of 24 hours.

October 29, a big day for Emirates, marked the launch of its five weekly flights to Tunis; eight flights a week to Indian IT-hub Bangalore; third-daily service to New York and second-daily service to Zurich.

In all, 27 additional Emirates flights per week touched down on four of the world's seven continents on October 29.

The new flights introduced will offer over 7,500 passenger seats and 400 tonnes of cargo capacity. Emirates is blazing ahead with its ambition of serving 100 international destinations by 2012.

Since January 2006, the airline has already added nine passenger destinations - Abidjan, Thiruvananthapuram, Addis Ababa, Kolkata, Hamburg, Nagoya, Beijing, Tunis, Bangalore and one cargo-only gateway, Malawi to bring its network to the current 87 cities in 58 countries.