Business as usual at BIA but security beefed up

Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd Vice Chairman Priyantha Kariyapperuma yesterday confirmed that the operations at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) were functioning smoothly, as many travellers had adhered to the instructions given to them.

“The operations at BIA are 100% under control. Security has been beefed up and there is smooth function at the airport,” he told Daily FT.

When asked if there was an unusual amount of people, especially foreigners, wanting to go out from the country, he said that there had been no extra travellers. “We haven’t come across any such situation as yet. However, we observed that those who have flights in the morning had come to the airport a little early, and we assume it is due to the curfew situation in the country and as a precautionary measure,” he added.

Kariyapperuma also commended the support given by all travellers in coming four hours prior to the flight to carry out the necessary security screenings.

“We called on all passengers to come in four hours prior and they all adhered to it, which helped all operations from security to ground handling to everything else. One extra hour was requested to carry out the security checks,” he pointed out.

According to Kariyapperuma, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga had also visited the airport to inspect the operations at BIA. (CdeS)