PM to present Cabinet paper to bring down BIA airfare structure

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to present a Cabinet memorandum to bring down the costly airfare structure at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at the next Cabinet meeting. 

The premier held a high level meeting earlier this week with top officials of SLTDA, Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, SriLankan Airlines, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Finance Ministry to discuss the possibility of reducing the costly airfare structure at BIA to the levels of other leading airports in 
the region. 

As first step, the ground handling charges are likely to be reduced in the range of 30-40 percent. The embarkation levy is likely to be reduced from US $60 to US $40 per tourist.
Further, a reduction in aviation fuel price is also on the cards. 

The proposed measures are to be in force for about six months to support the recovery of the tourism sector in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.

The ground handling charges and aviation fuel at BIA are considered to be among the highest in the region, which have impacted BIA’s competitiveness.

According to a recent study by AG SEP Research, the airfares from Europe to Sri Lanka are the most expensive compared to the other key tourist destination in the South and Southeast Asian regions.