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Indian help to develop three airports
View(s):Sri Lanka will seek the services of the Indian Satellite Air Navigation System (Gagan) for the development of its three proposed regional airports – Palaly, Batticaloa and Ratmalana – senior officials said.
The request will be made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the visit of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, which takes place today, a senior officer of the Prime Minister’s office said.
He said that a request would be made to meet the expenses via an Indian credit line, or similar concessional scheme.
Discussions on the proposed request were held at Temple Trees on Friday when Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) H M C Nimalsiri met with the Prime Minister.
The request comes in the wake of plans to invest Rs10 billion for development of the Palaly, Batticaloa and Ratmalana airports.
Mr Nimalsiri told the Sunday Times that, under the proposed plan, the airports will be developed in three phases, of which the first phase will commence in Palaly and Batticaloa in August this year.
The Palaly airport will be expanded from the existing 2,300 sq metres to 3,200 sq metres, which will enable the landing of larger aircraft such as the A-320 and A-321. The Road Development Authority (RDA) has been awarded the contract costing Rs4.1 billion, under which, the runway, taxiway and terminal buildings will be developed.
A separate runway will be maintained for military aircraft. An additional Rs2 billion will be spent on customs, immigration and duty free buildings.
Mr Nimalsiri said they hope to commence regional operations between India and Sri Lanka from Palaly next August.
The development of the Batticaloa airport will commence later this year, while work at Ratmalana will commence next year, with more land acquisitions due.