5 January 2021 01:44 pm
The country's airports will be officially opened for commercial passenger transportation and tourists from January 21 as per the health guidelines, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said.
Accordingly, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at Katunayake and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) will be opened for commercial flights after ten months, the Minister said.
Addressing the media he said, he would expect commercial flights to touch down at our airports and all airport formalities would return to normal by January 23.
“Nearly three million people in the country are directly and indirectly dependent on the tourism industry and that they have become totally helpless due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation,” Minister Ranatunga said.
Considering the current situation faced by them, the Government has decided to reopen all airports to boost the tourism industry, he said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)