UL, Lufthansa Technik to launch MRO at HIA

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

SriLankan Airlines (UL) in partnership with Lufthansa Technik are to offer MRO (Mechanical Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the new Hambantota International Airport(HIA). Chairman SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickremasinghe told ‘Daily News Business’ after the 68th annual general meeting of International Air Transport Association, (IATA) that this would add more international recognism to HIA and also bring in additional revenue to SriLankan.

Nishantha Wickremasinghe

Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT) is an independent global leading training provider for staff involved in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry for aircraft, engines and aircraft components of civil aviation.

From basic technical training and type-related training to interdisciplinary training, the company offers all training important for safety, reliability and economically-oriented qualifications.

Wickremasinghe said that HIA could service many airlines in the region which would help to increase its revenue. “In addition to bringing revenue and more recognism to the airline it would also help to place HIA in a more attractive position in the international aviation map,” he said. He said that few years ago, China had only about 12 airports but today there are over 40 international airports helping the industry to take off.

“The second international airport in Sri Lanka should have been constructed many years ago. However with HIA, Sri Lankan aviation industry can now look at new vistas,” he added. The airport which will be built using funds from the China Harbour Engineering Corporation will see that the first phase will be completed by end 2012 on an 800 hectare block of land while the second phase will be built on the remaining 1,200 hectares. The new airport will also target the arrival of a million passengers annually and the runway could even accommodate the state of art A 380 aircraft, which will be 3,500 feet in length and 75 meters in width.

The Mattala airport, will also insist on having 60 percent of the flights for cargo and 40 percent for passengers and these ratios will also be increased with the passage of time. HIA would be the only environmentally friendly airport in South Asia.

Aviation is a vital component of the global economy which supports 57 million jobs and 2.2 dollars in economic activity and some 48 million tons of cargo with value of 5.3 trillion dollars was transported by air. “That is over one third of world trade and the benefits of global connectivity touch virtually every modern business,” said Tony Tylor Director General and CEO, IATA after the AGM.

“In 2011 2.8 billion people traveled on 35, 000 routes connecting 3,800 commercial airports together they flew 5.1 trillion km which is 34,000 times distance to the sun.”

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