COPE releases latest findings

13 April 2015 03:20 am

There had been only 13,371 passenger arrivals and 16,712 departures at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport in Mattala for 9 months from January to September 2014, the latest findings by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) had revealed.

This is against 5.3 million passenger movements handled by the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA)  during the same period.

However, officials of Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka Ltd, who have been questioned by COPE had said the number of Aircrafts flying above the island had increased significantly due to the availability of a high standard airport in Mattala which has the accessibility for immediate landing of even an A 380 airplanes in urgent situations.

The COPE had therefore requested the officials of the Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka Ltd to submit a report on a breakdown of international and domestic passenger movements taken place through Mattala International Airport and to submit a report on the aircrafts that had flown over Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the latest COPE report revealed that the possibility of widening the existing track in the Bandaranaike International Airport by 60m. The COPE had asked the airport and aviation authorities to submit a report on the possibility of developing the BIA to accommodate any bigger aircrafts in the world.