Govt. to embark on Stage II of US $ 500 mn BIA expansion project

March 3, 2012, 7:27 pm 

By Franklin R. Satyapalan

Stage II of the expansion of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) will go ahead, as planned, with US $ 500 million funding from JICA, Airport and Aviation Services Minister, Priyankara Jayaratne said.

The government has ambitious plans to develop Sri Lanka into a hub for commercial aviation in the Asian region in 2012. This would act as a catalyst for the growth of the country ‘s tourism industry, he noted.

He said that on the advice of the President, SriLankan Airlines has taken a policy decision to acquire only brand new aircraft to increase its fleet as it has been found that new aircraft would not require any major repairs or maintenance for six to ten years. The national carrier will also add Melbourne to its portfolio shortly thereby increasing the number of destinations to 63 in 33 countries.

The government has planned to complete construction of the country’s second International Airport at Mattala by October 2012 and implement the development of the domestic airport network in the country, the Minister said.

The agreement for the BIA expansion project will be signed between Finance Secretary Dr P. B. Jayasundara and JICA officials shortly.Construction is expected to be completed by 2016, Jinadasa Rajapaksa, an Ministry official said.

With the proposed expansion, the BIA passenger handling capacity would be doubled to 12 million per annum. The cargo handling capacity would also be increased to 500,000 metric tons from present capacity of 250,000 metric tons, he noted,

A new split level passenger terminal building which separates arrivals and departures vertically, a new pier with eight boarding gates and 14 passenger boarding bridges with a dedicated gate comprising two passenger boarding bridges for the operations of the new A-380 Airbus, will be included in the proposed new complex, he explained.

There would also be a remote apron and an additional nine parking stands to ease air traffic movements. There would be a tax free apparel shopping mall at the Katunayake BOI Zone to attract more business visitors to Sri Lanka.The tax free shopping mall is to be located adjacent to the arrival terminal and connected by a sky bridge, he said.

The security, administration, fire services buildings and female rest rooms for navigational staff will also be expanded along with the refurbishment of the porches and departure and arrival terminals.