Four airbuses boost national carriers

Target to increase fleet to 30 airbuses:

SriLankan and Mihinlanka get four airbuses:

Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE

Four new airbuses will be added to the fleet of SriLankan and Mihinlanka Airlines before the end of this year, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said.

One airbus will arrive next month while the remaining three are expected to arrive before the end of the year. The target is to increase the total fleet to 30 airbuses within the next few years, the minister added. The minister addressing a gathering yesterday at the Aviation Ministry which was relocated at Bristol Street in Fort, said that SriLankan Airlines will be developed as the best airline in Asia while the airports too will be converted to similar standards. Aiming to achieve this goal, moves are under way to streamline the present services available in the aviation sector while introducing new services to the industry, Jayaratne said.

In line with the Nil Ahasa Jayaganimu (Conquer the Blue Skies) development policy drive of the Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma, the construction work of the second international airport at Mattala, Hambantota is going ahead at a rapid pace. As scheduled the Mattala International Airport will be commissioned by late 2012.

With the commissioning of the airport, Sri Lanka will be made into an aviation hub in the near future, the minister said.

Fulfilling a long felt need of the country for over decades for another international airport, the new airport will be constructed on a 2,000 hectare land in Mattala at a cost of US $ 209 million. The airport is being constructed as an 'eco-friendly airport' minimising damage to the environment, Jayaratne added.

The airport will play a vital and supportive role in the development of the entire country while promoting air-sea travel in conjunction with the Hambantota harbour, Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary Ranjith Silva said.