BIA needs another runway, says expert

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The Katunayake Airport runway which was built in 1985 is 22 years old. It needs a major refurbishment within the next few years, Director Safety and Infrastructure Jebal Ali Airport Dayantha Athulathmudali said.

Addressing a seminar on “The importance of transport infrastructure for national development”, organised by the Chamber of Construction Industry at Hotel Galadari he said the current runway is the only one in the entire country that could support civil aviation operations of international airlines, and military fast jet operations.

However, there are safety concerns when using a single runway.

He pointed out that it is only 3350 mtrs long and 45 mtrs wide and therefore too short to support the A340-300.

“Take off at its maximum takeoff weight of 275 tonnes during the day time when temperature exceed 31 C and as a result when the Cabin is full Paxs, UL cargo has to be unloaded. Sri Lankan exports destined to London and beyond have to be shamefully unloaded and reloaded to UL’s competitors simply because the runway is too short during the day time,” he regretted.

The length is inadequate even for other types such as B777 and B747-400 operations at maximum take off weight again when the runway is hot.

“Both BIA runway length and width are inadequate for an A380 takeoff while it could land at BIA it cannot take off thereafter without risking harming itself as jet blast could cause serious soil erosion and destroy runway signs and runway lights.

The A380 requires a runway length of 4000 m and a width of 60 m.

He pointed out that if there is a will, BIA can become a hub for cargo and passengers serving South Asia including non stop services to the USA. However, this will require skill and determination to develop a niche market ahead of potential competitors.

“The existing problems with inadequate land, which currently dictates a single runway must be resolved. There is potential for BIA to be a hub and opportunities to promote and expand the use of it do exist.

It takes only 3 to 5 hours to regional hubs in Dubai, Sharjah, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore from Colombo and most of India is within hours of Colombo.

“However, there is a need for consultation between the International airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority of a State when planning a major international airport expansion or a new international airport”, Athulathmudali said.