Colombo Intl. domestic terminal opens in March

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The Colombo International Airport’s domestic terminal will be opened next March to mainly cater to the growing domestic air traffic market in Sri Lanka.

Chairman, Airport Aviation, Prasanna Wickramasuriya speaking to the Daily News Business said that they were converting the former SriLankan Airline catering building for this purpose. “AASL would be investing a sum of Rs 250 million for this domestic terminal,” he said.

Prasanna Wickramasuriya

Wickramasuriya said that with tourism picking up and high spenders patronizing Sri Lanka, investment and development taking places in the regions, the demand for domestic travel had increased.

The two main domestic airline operators, Deccan Aviation and SriLankan air taxis have mulled plans to double their fleet next year. In addition, Senok Group too has spelled out plans to commence a domestic airline operation by the end of the year. “It was to cater to these demands that the AASL had decided to have a domestic airport,” he said.

The idea of the domestic airport was to allow passengers to make immediate connections to destinations such as Palaly, Trincomalee Koggala and several other areas similar to other countries where domestic and international terminals were built adjoining each other.

Wickramasuriya said that the second international airport in Hambantota would be ready by next December and this would ease air traffic movements at the Colombo Airport. He said that many of the facilities offered at the International airport would be available at the domestic terminal, disclosing that they may also accommodate international budget airlines until such time the Hambantota airport was opened.

He said that the private jet market to the country had also increased by over 30 percent and they were planning to divert this traffic to Ratmalana. “We are now planning to refurbish Ratmalana to accommodate these private jets and will re introduce customs, immigrations and duty free facilities,” he said.

Commenting on the Hambantota International Airport, he said that over 80 percent of the runway had been completed and some international airlines have already included HIA to their route network.

The Colombo-Katunayake Expressway too would be linked to the Colombo Airport next year, giving even better access to the Colombo Airport.