20 October 2022 09:14 am Views - 129
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
Work on the second terminal of the Bandaranaike International Airport is being carried out using funds of the Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, Minister of Ports and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament yesterday.
The Minister said Japan will provide funds for the project as soon as Sri Lanka finalizes the debt restructuring process. “Japanese funds were only suspended after Sri Lanka declared itself as a default nation. Japan has assured that it will fund the construction of a second terminal as soon as Sri Lanka finalizes the debt restructuring process,” the Minister said.
“We decided to continue the work of the project to some extent using domestic funds,” he added.
He said the international status of the Ratmalana Airport had to be removed as many airlines who were assured to fly had not done so following the recent situation of Sri Lanka. “We have decided to confine Ratmalana Airport for the operation of private jets and to allow flying schools to use it for pilot training,” he said.
Referring to the Palaly Airport in Jaffna, the Minister said renovation work is continuing with Indian assistance. “ We will have to expand the runway of the Jaffna Airport to enable large aircraft to land on it,” he said.