Ratmalana intl. airport resumes operations tomorrow after 55-year hiatus

Saturday, 26 March 2022 00:48 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Colombo International Airport Ratmalana (CIAR) will resume scheduled international and regional flights tomorrow, following the largest development project carried out in recent history.

The inauguration is scheduled be held under the patronage of Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga, Youth and Sports, Development Co-ordination and Monitoring Minister and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development Namal Rajapaksa and State Minister of Aviation D.V. Chanaka at CIRA tomorrow.

Flights between Sri Lanka and the Maldives resume operations after 55 years. The Colombo-Maldives flights will be operated by Maldives Airlines and FITS Aviation. The development project was done with an investment of Rs. 220 million.

With the opening of CIAR tomorrow, Tourism Minister Ranatunga believes that the airport capacity and runway efficiency of the Ratmalana airport will increase by about 75%.

There are also plans to build a flight control centre and an air traffic control tower at the Ratmalana airport. He said the relevant procurement process had been completed and construction was expected to commence soon.

He said that steps have been taken to modernise the existing terminal building at CIAR and to upgrade it to accommodate regional international flights and international commercial aircrafts.

Minister Ranatunga also said that necessary steps had been taken to certify the aerodrome at CIAR. “It is an essential certification of an international airport. Arrangements have been made to obtain the certificate at the Ratmalana airport,” he added.

In addition, measures have been taken to upgrade the airline hangar facilities at CIAR, whilst one parking space has already been set up.

He said that the airport departure tax would be trimmed by 50%, whilst the concession would become active from 27 March and be in effect for a period of one year.

It was pointed out that the CIAR development project was abandoned since 2015. “These activities were started after the present Government came to power and it is expected to expand the parking facilities at the Ratmalana airport in the near future,” he said.

The ground handling at CIAR will be done by Airport Aviation Services (Lanka) Ltd., which previously was operated by SriLankan Airlines.