Aviation threshold to Wonder of Asia:
MRIA to usher economic renaissance
M F Jabir
The country is set for an economic renaissance with the opening of
Sri Lanka’s second international airport, the Mattala Rajapaksa
International Airport (MRIA) by President Mahinda Rajapaksa today.
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport |
The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka on Friday gave the green
light for the opening of MRIA by issuing the Aeronautical Service
Provider Licence and an open sky policy will be adopted by the
government allowing international carriers to operate freely over
Mattala.
In addition a 50 % discount on ground handling charges for five years
too is in the offine.
The first phase of the US$ 220 million project, is capable of
accommodating one million passengers annually and with the commissioning
of the second phase the capacity is expected to increase to five million
per annum by 2015.
Many major airlines such as Qatar Airways, Ethiad , Emirates and
budget airlines flydubai and Air Arabia have already scheduled flights
to Mattala.
In addition Sichuan Airlines of China, too would operate flights to
Mattala and major airlines too have express willingness to enter the
fold including Korean Air. In addition Heli Tours would also operate two
flights per day at a very low rate between Colombo and Mattala.
MRIA would open to the skies with National Carrier SriLankan
Airlines, flying the inaugural flight to MRIA today. Initially SriLankan
Airlines will be operating two flights to Riyadh, four to Male, two to
Beijing and one to Shanghai via Bangkok, while Mihin Lanka would fly
twice to Buddha Gaya.
Among the many unique features of MRIA is its ability to accommodate
the Airbus A380, as it has been designated Code F by the International
Civil Aviation Organisation.
MRIA which consists of a 3,500-metre long and 60-metre wide runway,
and 7.5-metre shoulders has already lured Emirates Airlines which has
already expressed their willingness to use the Mahinda Rajapaksa
International Airport as a supply airport for their modern A380 flights
operating on long haul destinations.
Thus MRIA has already drawn the spot light of several mega airlines
with its ability to handle even the world’s largest and newest aircraft.
With the large ground space available at MRIA and its ability to
handle 60,000 metric tonnes of cargo and with plans to increase it
to150,000 metric tones, there are vast opening for converting MRIA into
an cargo hub in South Asia thus drawing many major courier providers
such as Fedex and DHL into the purview of MRIA. SriLankan Cargo will
manage the MRIA’s 5,000-square metre cargo facility.
All line maintenance requirements at MRIA for Airbus A300, A320,
A330, A340 and Boeing 737 aircraft, including support for other
operators’ aircraft, will be provided by SriLankan Engineering.
SriLankan Catering (SLC), a subsidiary of SriLankan Airlines would
handle the Flight Kitchen of MRIA, catering to the food and beverage
needs of Transit Restaurant, Business Class Lounge and the Public
Restaurant.
SLC restaurants would be staffed by 52 employees recruited from the
region, and arrangements have been made to use local produce as much as
possible in all catering requirements. |