Only four inbound flights at MRIA daily
More than a year after the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in Hambantota opened an average of only four flights have been arriving daily, airport sources said.
It’s mostly SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka flights that fly to MRIA.Rotana Jet, Fly Dubai and Air Arabia also fly to MRIA but on-and-off.
Delegates enjoy themselves at the airport
When the Business Times requested for the flight schedule of the flights that arrive and depart at the MRIA, the Information Desk at the airport provided the above details.
The Business Times was part of the media team that met delegates of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) at Mattala, Hambantota who had attended their 3-day conference in Colombo on the theme “Enabling Safety and Sustainable Growth in the Asia Pacific’. Around 137 delegates from 26 countries had visited Sri Lanka for the conference.
Soon after the conference, organisers, the Airports and Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (AASL) took the CANSO delegates to the MRIA (Mattala airport) in Hambantota and the elephant orphanage in Udawalawe last Thursday.
On arrival at Mattala, there were no aircraft on the ground. The flight taking the delegates together with the AASL officials and media was the only one that landed at that time of the day at the airport. It was a quiet environment that everyone in the aircraft experienced after getting off the aircraft. The duty-free shops, the departure and arrival lounges were completely empty with no single passenger waiting to fly, by the time the flight landed. There is a single terminal at the airport for both departures and arrivals.
It was the first time most of the foreign delegates had visited Sri Lanka.
When the Business Times questioned a delegate as to how he feels about the MRIA and the environment around, he said, “The airport is looking fabulous.Since it’s a new airport, it would take some time to grab the attention of the tourists that visit Sri Lanka.”
Soon after exploring the airport the delegates were taken to the elephant orphanage in Udawalawe, a ride of around 30 minutes from the airport where they enjoyed the elephants. The baby elephants were brought in one by one for their afternoon milk and food which thrilled the delegates.