Minister Ranatunga engages in discussions to resolve passenger delays at BIA

Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has discussed several short, medium, and long term plans to expedite emigration and immigration activities at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

During a meeting that was held at the auditorium of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Minister Ranatunga said that short term plans were vital since the airport often receives approximately 3000 passengers per hour.

Accordingly, short term plans such as the stationing of information officers across the airport, displaying instruction boards and electronic signals were discussed at the meeting.

“The current hassle that we are faced with at present is pertaining to Immigration activities” Minister Ranatunga pointed out.

Passengers have been severely inconvenienced due to the delay in operational activities of the Immigration and Emigration Department and the Sri Lanka customs, a release from the Ministry said.

Accordingly, the Transport and Civil Aviation Minister had informed the representatives from the said entities to utilise the assistance of the airports and airline companies that were under his purview.

During the meeting, Mr. Ranatunga had emphasised that long term measures such as the expansion of service counters and the wide usage of technologically upgraded equipment were important to resolve the delay faced by passengers.

The BIA caters to the needs of nearly 30,000 passengers per day.

Representatives from the Immigration and Emigration Department, Sri Lanka Customs and higher officials of the BIA participated at the meeting.