First flight to land by 2011:

Mattala, boon to local aviation industry

Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE

Sri Lanka second international airport, Mattala in Hambantota will be commissioned in December 2011.

The first flight will land in Mattala airport by late 2011.

The airport construction project is under way on a 2,000 hectare bare land at a cost of US $ 200 million. The project was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 27, 2009.

The new airport will be a boon to the local aviation industry while being a catalyst for the Southern province economic development, generating international trade, tourism, vocational training and employment.

The project will be carried out in two stages. The airport will be geared to support international and domestic air travel, sea cargo transshipment in conjunction with the Hambantota harbour.

The airport will be an alternative to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) the only international airport in the country.

”The BIA commenced operations four decades ago. The country is facing numerous difficulties as there is no alternative international airport. Due to this the construction of a second international airport is a historic and significant event” Minister Rajapaksa added.

A bare land affected due to the scarcity of water has been selected as the construction site of the airport. Under the first phase, 800 hectares of land has been acquired while under the second phase another 1,200 hectares will be acquired. Under the first phase basic aerodynamic facilities, runway, apron, taxiway, passenger and cargo terminals, access roads, accommodation for officials, fuel storages, sewerage treatment plant, water supply facilities, meteorological building, fire fighting facilities, buildings for catering facilities and car park will be constructed.

At the second phase which will cover 1,200 hectares will have construction of airport and aviation related facilities. Under this, servicing and a repairing centre for aircraft, hotel and recreational facilities, pilot training centre, maintenance hub, private jet hangar, technical training centres, a full length parallel taxiway and many more facilities will be completed.

The construction will be carried out to meet international standards established in the airport and aviation industry such as ICAO specifications for Code 4F. The runway is 3,500 metres in length and 75 metres in width. It is to operate any size of aircraft such as the A380 air-bus, the largest aircraft ever built, the Ports and Aviation Ministry Secretary K.V.P. Ranjith De Silva said.

The Government of the People’s Republic of China is financially assisting the project with a soft loan facility.

After the airport construction, it is expected to hold one million passenger movements through the airport.