‘Mattala airport to boost tourist arrivals’

Shirajiv SIRIMANE in London

With the opening of Mattala International Airport in Hambantota next year, Sri Lanka would be able to surpass the target of 2.5 million arrivals in 2016 and anticipate a further one million arrivals.

Chairman, SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe said that the Mattala airport would have no affect in the business activities of the Colombo airport and it would operate as a separate entity attracting more passengers to the airline and country.

“With Mattala, we can target a further one million arrivals and I am sure Sri Lanka can look at the 2.5 million arrival mark by end 2016,” he said. Speaking at the WTM, SriLankan Airline Press conference he said that the airline would also look at new destinations operating out of Mattala and would also provide other logistic services such as MRO, training, catering and cargo handling.

He also said they would also operate shuttle flights from Mattala to Colombo and back since they hope to operate many European and Gulf destinations to Mattala from next year. Commenting on the resumption of flights by British Airways, he said firstly it would help to improve Sri Lanka's image as a destination even further.

“It would also create more opportunities for SriLankan as we can advertise Sri Lanka in Gatwick as well, he said. “This would be advantages to both parties,” he added.

High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in UK, Dr. Chris Nonis said that this year UK arrivals would increase and predicted it would pass the100, 000 mark again. He also said that foreign direct investments from tourism in Sri Lanka would pass the US $ 3 billion mark by 2016.