Sri Lanka Airports

Not forgetting the most important obstacle of all:- It is impossible to do Legitimate Business in Sri Lanka!

Everybody wants their "Cut" in order to get anything done or you need to provide a job for someone's useless Relatives.

It's simply not worth the hassle - especially if profit margins are low to start off with. This is why no new Airlines have gone past the "talk" stage.

It is also why a lot of companies have no presence in Sri Lanka.

Need for National Aviation Policy

Sri Lanka has 16 airports which provide connectivity to all parts of the Island. At the Northern tip is KKS (Kankasanturai). Moving southwards there is Iranamadu, Vavuniya, China Bay (Trincomalee), Thalladi (Mannar), Anuradhapura, Higurakgoda, Sigiriya, BIA Katunayake, Ratmalana, Katukurunda, Batticaloa, Ampara, Koggala, MRIA Mattala and Weerawila. Besides these sixteen Runways, there are over two thousand potential water aerodromes including Kelani River, Diyawanna Oya (Waters' Edge), Bentota, Koggala, Mahawella Lagoon, Tissawewa, Lake Gregory, Victoria (Kandy), Polgolla, Batticaloa and Pasikuddah. There are also many other helipads all over the country.

As one can see, there is tremendous potential for connectivity within the Island for citizens and visitors to Sri Lanka. So why is it not happening? Many think that flying is (1) dangerous (2) Unaffordable, and lastly, (3) When there are roads and highways to almost all parts of the Island that could be reached within five hours, why does one need to fly? .............

Sri Lanka has to pick the most important locations which are feasible for flight operation and upgrade those airports with mandatory facilities (shouldn't over-spent like SL-gov did with HRI).

Batticaloa Airport was upgraded with descent terminal a few months ago. Upgrading 6 airports it's not going to be done that easily because SL gov hasn't got enough money to spend on these. This may take some time but ministers are talking because the next election are on the way

Sorry sir. But they don’t care for passengers. Don’t waste ur valuable time

I Am in Colombo Airport right now And I have more then 15 hours stay in airport but they are not providing any Hotel and any meal .. next time I will never choose Lanka airline because of Air Lanka staff in Colombo Airport ... I will personally inform Chairam of AirLanka Mr. Ranjith Fernando,
Thank you

In 2999 Sri Lanka preparing strategic initiative to improve same six domestic international airports

First of all we need to increase the capacity and infrastructure facilities in Bandaranaike International Airport.

😂😂 same old story. We don't have proper one single international airport and we spends
thousands to develop domestic.

Sri Lanka preparing strategic initiative to improve six domestic airports and Development of Palaly Airport will not be given to any foreign country

Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva's Parliament announcement that the Government was not handing over the Palay Airport in the Tamil-majority Northern Province for development to a State-run Indian air-infra firm should dampen the spirit of bilateral enthusiasts on both sides of the Palk Strait. It is not just about the Sri Lankan decision but more about the way huge gaps have begun appearing in bilateral communication, and more frequently than ever.

Such concerns are not without reason. Minister De Silva's statement came after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) claimed to have signed an agreement with the nation's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for "preparation of a detailed project report for development of Palaly airport in Sri Lanka". As Indian media reports pointed out, this would have been the first project for the AAI in the island- nation.

It is in this context that Minister De Silva told Parliament that Sri Lanka was against giving control of Palaly Airport to India or any other country for developing the same. Instead, his ministry would develop Palaly in partnership with partnership with the Tourism Development Fund and the Civil Aviation Authority, he clarified.

War-time airport

Palaly was a key-airport during Sri Lanka's war years and decades, for military movement. Even Indian peace interlocutors and LTTE's Prabhakaran used to jet-set outside the country from here, during and pre-IPKF era. The post-war Rajapaksa regime took a quick decision to promote Palaly back as a civil aviation-hub, which it was anyway, more so after the Tamil Diaspora began returning home, even if for a short stay.

As Minister De Silva told Parliament, Palaly was not the only airport that Sri Lankan would not hand over to foreign Governments or their agencies for development. The Government did not intend handing over Higurakgoda, Baticaloa, Keggala, Digana and Trincomlee airports, too, to other countries for such development. Instead, they would all be developed as 'domestic airports', the Minister said.

It is unclear if Minister De Silva made any distinction between retaining all of them as 'domestic airports' and letting other nation's institutions 'develop' them. For instance, the AAI in the country of its origin is only an infrastructure and management organisation, of airport infrastructure, but deciding if they should be 'domestic' or 'international airports'.
The decision to develop a particular airport in India to 'domestic' or 'international' standards was for the Government to take, after studying various parameters, demands and ground situation. The AAI is only an executing agency representing the Government, as such 'development' cost money. In context, private airport operators, if allowed, might cut corners – and thus compromise 'security' of every kind.

Not the first…

Unfortunately for bilateral relations, Palaly is not the first or the only airport in whose development the AAI's name in particular got dragged on. Earlier, Minister De Silva told Parliament that the very same AAI was being asked to submit a business plan to operate the loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, possibly the only one of its kind and size where no aircraft has landed in a long time.

That was when the Indian Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha told Parliament that there was no such proposal on the anvil. In particular, Minister Sinha told Indian Parliament that there was no proposal for the AAI to build a flying school and also maintenance, repair and overhaul unit at Mattala.

It is another matter that the MEA soon clarified that New Delhi was after all considering Sri Lanka's proposal in this regard. But then, confusion of the kind seems to continue haunting bilateral relations, long after the exit of the Rajapaksa regime and the advent of the incumbent, 'India-friendly' Government in Colombo.

Bridge too far…

Land bridge

It all had possibly begun with India's Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and his ministerial deputy, Pon Radhakrishnan, began talking about reviving the idea of a land-bridge between the two countries. Mooted when present-day Sri Lankan PM Ranil held the same office a decade and more ago, that too at a seminar in Chennai, it was shot down soon thereafter by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

It was the ceasefire time between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE alright, but then no one really expected the same to hold for too long. To the extent, the anxieties expressed by CM Jayalalithaa were not wide off the mark, but it was much more than a political statement than Ranil's proposal, which had genuine elements attaching to the same.
If Ministers Gadkari and Radhakrishnan thought that because of PM Ranil's past interest and initiative in the matter, Sri Lanka would receive the new proposal without question, it was not to be. More than the idea per se, the Sri Lankan side seemed to have been surprised about the absence of prior intimation, if not mutual consultation and consensus, before the Indian side went to town on the matter.

Today, it is nobody's case that the land-bridge idea should be revived, or at least a feasibility study undertaken. By jumping the gun and with that side-stepping the traditional diplomatic route, the Indian Ministers might have shot themselves in the foot, and the project in the head.

Avoidable embarrassment

Today, as the communication gap involving the otherwise little-known AAI shows, there has been avoidable embarrassment on the bilateral front, involving India and Sri Lanka. At one level, all of it can be safely overlooked, but at another level, they are worse than in the past.
Time used to be when diplomats and ministers from the two sides used to differ and distinguish between crossing a 't' here or dotting an 'i' there, on the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. Peculiar situations demand particular handling – and they were all comprehensible and even acceptable after a point.

In recent times, the Rajapaksa regime, after a point began giving the impression that it was in the business of shifting the goal-post eternally on the post-war ethnic reconciliation front. India was not the first among international interlocutors to get the feeling. India could not escape it, after a point.

The present Government's handling of the UNHRC-backed 'war crimes probe' and consequent ethnic reconciliation efforts have left to similar feelings in India, as with the rest of the world. It was/is not about what Sri Lankan wants to do with itself and its population. It is all about what and how Sri Lanka conveys it to the rest of the world – India, included.

It is equally so with India's information channels with Sri Lanka, and the rest of the neighbourhood, too. Needless to point out, India or any other nation in its place, expecting/anticipating rulers in the neighbourhood to deliver on expectations, even up to the half-way mark, is one thing. It is another to expect them to understand all of Indian concerns, or act on the same even if they understood it.

In diplomatic terms, there are no informal channels where such communication can be free and frank, especially when either or both sides feel restricted, if not outright choked. Less said thus about the Indian experience with Sri Lanka's successive rulers, not only on the strategically important China front, but equally so on the relatively less important CEPA-ECTA negotiations!

(The writer is Director, Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, the multi-disciplinary Indian public-policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi. email: )

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Thales and MAC sign contracts to develop and enhance safety and security of Sri Lankan airspace

In separate contracts signed in March and August this year, the supply, installation and commissioning of Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) systems, and Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems will be done by Thales and MAC Holdings Ltd., the facilitating local partner and key industrial partner for Thales in Sri Lanka.

The first official contract for the AIM system was signed on 23 March in the presence of AASL Chairman, Vice Chairman, Technical Director, officials from the French Embassy in Colombo, Senior Account Manager, Asia-Pacific Mayuran Sundaramoorthy representing Thales and officials from MAC Holdings Ltd.

The scope of work for the proposed AIM system shall include supply, installation and commissioning and ensuring the completion of the AIS-AIM transition steps included under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of ICAO AIS-AIM transition roadmap. This will replace the existing systems used for Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) operation of Sri Lanka and facilitate all AIS operations.

The AIM system shall fulfll AIS system requirements of Bandaranaike International Airport-– Katunayake (BIA), Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) and Colombo Airport – Ratmalana (RMA), while providing the adherence to latest ICAO requirements. Performance and technical characteristics of the AIM system shall satisfy ICAO recommendations and other similar standards&and regulations published by regulatory bodies such as Eurocontrol.

A second contract was signed on 1h August in the presence of the same officials from AASL but also including Company Secretary and Head of Electronics an& Air Navigation Engineering. Similar to the previous contract, Thales, together with MAC Holdings Ltd., will supply, install and commission the Air Traffic Management (ATM) System at Bandaranaike International Airport[(BI]) at Katunayake.

Thale’’s state-of-the-art TopSky-ATC system will enhance the safety and efficiency of Air Traffic Management services at BIA.

Over 140 TopSky systems worldwide and around 70% of Asia pacific airspace is managed by Thale’’s TopSky ATM system. In Sri Lanka Thales have successfully implemented Air Traffic Management systems and Radars since late 70s, including several State-to-State projects with French government financing support. Currently two Thales radars are operating at BIA and Pidurutalagala.

This is just more "Sri Lanka Big Talk BS" from another useless Minister.

Nothing will happen - there's no money.

260 million rupees is so high for 10 e gates?

This is why this fellow is known as Sleepingpala

India not involved in Palaly airport project, says Minister

India is not involved in developing Sri Lanka’s northern airport, a senior Minister has said, contradicting a statement by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

When contacted, Mr. De Silva said that as per the Cabinet paper, the contract of developing the airport was being awarded to the Sri Lankan Air Force. Queried on the divergence from his Prime Minister’s remarks, he told The Hindu on Wednesday: “I am not aware of any discussion with India… as far as I am concerned, I am developing the airport” Addressing a public meeting last month, Mr. De Silva said that the Sri Lankan government planned to upgrade the airport in Palaly, with an LKR 1600 million (roughly $9.5 million) allocation.
On the mixed signals from the Sri Lankan leaders, sources in Colombo said Mr. De Silva’s remarks pertained to a more immediate effort aimed at swiftly commencing commercial operations, while the AAI’s report was on a more “long-term” development plan with Indian assistance. A comprehensive upgradation would “happen in stages”, said a source familiar with the ongoing negotiations.

Sri Lanka international airport to get automated immigration e-gates

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will have digital gates at its main international airport to automate immigration controls and enable travelers to board and disembark from flights faster, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva said.

“In six months I will ensure digital gates at the airport and reduce congestion,” he told the “International Conference 2018” held by the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT).

De Silva said the Cabinet of ministers Tuesday approved a joint proposal by him and Internal Affairs Minister S.B.Nawinna for the e-gates at the airport.

“Yesterday I got Cabinet approval to set up 10 digital gates at the airport so we are not at the mercy of immigration officials.”

Ten e-gates will be set up at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake at a cost of 260 million rupees, the state information office said, citing the Cabinet decision.

The move is to provide an alternative to the present manual controls by Immigration and Emigration Department which regulates the entry and exit of people in the island.

De Silva said digital immigration controls are possible since information on travelers is captured electronically when they enter or leave the country.

“Sixty-five percent of people from the airport are Sri Lankans – all their information is recorded. Foreigners coming in have to go through immigration but when going back can use digital gates and go through in a few seconds.”

De Silva said he was prompted to go digital as immigration officers were not efficient or polite enough as in airports at other countries.

“There are 35 seats at the immigration counter but only 4-5 people working.”

The authorities studied electronic immigration controls elsewhere like in Dubai, de Silva told the conference which was on how logistics professionals need to adapt to a digitally connected future.
(COLOMBO, 19 September, 2018)