75 percent of construction work completed:

Mattala int’l airport, a boon to aviation industry

By Shirajiv Sirimane

The communication tower Development at the airport

Sri Lanka is celebrating a century of aviation and it’s apt that the opening of the country’s second international airport in Mattala would take place early next year.For a country targeting one billion US dollars in foreign direct investments and 3.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016, one international airport is not sufficient and it was sad that this area had not been addressed for nearly 6o years.

The Mahinda Chinthana identified this gap and Hambantota, which also has an international harbour, was identified to build the second airport. The dream of a second international airport is now nearing completion with over 75 percent of the construction work now completed. The communication tower, which is the world’s first tower depicting a lotus, is now ready with all communication instruments installed. In addition the runway and the taxiway too have been completed ahead of schedule.

“If there is an emergency in Colombo or any other reason, we have made provisions for aircraft to land at the Mattala airport,” said M. Vithanage, Project Engineer. He said the first test flight too successfully landed and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is now running other tests before finally issuing the ‘all go’ certificate.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspects developments at the Mattala airport with Chairman AASL Prasanna Wickramasuriya

Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka Limited (AASL) Prasanna Wickramasuriya said air cargo handling services will also be increased in parallel to the increase of passenger handling capacity. The Mattala airport will handle 60 percent of air cargo services and 40 percent of passenger services. Arrangements have been made to increase the passenger handling capacity to 12 million by 2015 from the current capacity of six million. He said Mattala will be one of the few eco-friendly airports in the world. Work on the planned passenger terminal with separate facilities for domestic services and a picturesque outdoor garden (meda midula) is 90 percent complete while the cargo area too is 92 percent complete. The fire and rescue section is completed along with backup power supplies and other essential infrastructure. The authorities are now speeding up the access roads which include a flyover interchange.

First test flight

The first test flight landed at the Hambantota International Airport last month for the purpose of calibrating the air navigational aids and other related equipment. This check was carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan with the use of a special Beech Craft Super King 200. The runway, air routes and electrical and electronic systems pertaining to air navigational services were included in the calibration process. After a successful flight, the pilot and the team of examiners stated that the accuracy of all equipment and navigational aids was verified and all of them were functioning perfectly according to international standards. They said further checks would be conducted in the coming days.

Both SriLankan and Mihin have announced that they would operate stopover flights via Hambantota, flydubai is the first airline to make a firm commitment to operate flights to Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala, Hambantota. flydubai CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer said that the airline held several positive discussions in this regard with Sri Lanka’s authorities and said they will fly to Hambantota when the new airport opens.

“flydubai launched flights to Colombo in July 2010 with four flights a week. This frequency was made daily from March 11, 2012. We want to add more flights to Colombo and this is why we want to fly to Mattala,” he said.

Several other airlines such as Qatar, Emirates and Silk Air too will fly to Mattala while charter flights too would use the airport frequently.

A leading airline in Europe has also pledged to open an MRO centre which would bring additional revenue to the project.

The airport, in its first stage which is estimated to cost US$ 209 million with funding from Exim Bank of China, would cater to one million passengers and 45,000 mt. of cargo. Under the second stage, it would cater to six million passengers and 150,000 mt. of cargo.

New equipment

Wickramasuriya emphasised that brand new equipment had been installed at the Hambantota airport and no equipment was removed from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). He also stressed that they have no idea of even temporarily closing the Colombo airport.

Plans are also under way to re-develop the BIA and the loan agreement for the Stage 2 Phase II Development Project was signed with JICA Colombo recently. The AASL created history by becoming the first fully government owned business organisation to receive a Japanese ODA loan for a project in Sri Lanka.

The Government of Japan will provide Yen 28,969 million for the development of Stage 2 of Phase II of the BIA under the 42nd Yen Loan Package. The scope of this project includes the construction of a state-of-the-art multi-level terminal building with eight boarding gates, parking apron with nine aircraft stands and improvements to utilities. The development project is to commence this month and is due to be completed by December 2015.

The new airport will be a boon to the local aviation industry while being a catalyst for economic development of the Southern Province through the enabling of international trade, tourism and vocational training. The new airport will be geared to support both international and domestic travel and air-sea cargo transshipment in conjunction with the Hambantota sea port and will be an alternative to the BIA.

Sri Lanka is aiming at 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016 and with the opening of the Hambantota airport, Sri Lanka could attract a further one million tourists, proving that both airports would be competing against each other, contributing to development of the country.

In addition to this, the Palali airport is also being upgraded and a new carpet road is almost complete from the city to the airport. The passenger areas have been upgraded and today there are around three daily flights to Jaffna carried out by Expo Aviation and Heli Tours which is managed by the Sri Lanka Air Force. Plans are also under way to build two domestic airports in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. The main aim is to improve air travel services with wide domestic airport services giving more impetus to air travel. The new airport proposals are helping the nation to improve its modes of transport and target higher rates of foreign income.

The proposed airports of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya are expected to be built at a cost of Rs. 750 million. This is in addition to the 16 existing domestic airports, taking the country closer to its goal of becoming the Wonder of Asia.

At a glance

* Stage I - Initial development
Basic aerodrome facilities, runway, apron, taxiway, passenger and cargo terminals Access roads, accommodation for officials, fuel farm, sewerage treatment plant, water supply facilities, meteorological building, fire building, catering facility and car park.

*Stage II - Second stage development
A full length parallel taxiway, flying school, airport hotel and recreational facilities

[Benefits to the community]

* Employment
* Business
* Improved infrastructure facilities
*Market for agricultural products
* Enhancement of tourism in the area
* Boost for education
* Connectivity