Turning a new page in the history of Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa will declare open the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport at 9.00 a.m. Monday(18).
It is significant that this airport was designed by the local engineers and will become the most sophisticated and the modernized airport in the Asian Region.
Construction of the 200 million U.S.Dollar first phase of the Airport begun in November 2009. The new airport is expected to expand the local aviation industry whilst being a catalyst for the country’s economic development enabling international trade, tourism, vocational training and employment. It has been implemented as an eco-friendly project. The airport covers a land area of 2,000 hectares.
The runway of the Airport is 3,500-metre long and 60-metre wide and 7.5-metre shoulders have been designated ‘Code F’ by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and could handle Airbus A380 aircraft.
State-owned SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Air and Air Arabia will be among the first to commence operations at the Mattala airport. Officials also expect to draw courier airlines and negotiations will commence with UPS, Fedex and DHL.Mattala international airport will also be an option for airlines that fly to destinations in the African continent. The new airport with hangars for aircraft repairs and maintenance will be an attractive place for airlines.
The airport could handle one million passengers and 45,000 metric tonnes of cargo. In the second stage it could be expanded to five million passengers and 150,000 metric tonnes of cargo.Sri Lankan entrepreneurs said that the new airport marks the beginning of a new chapter in Sri Lanka's economic development.
The airport has been constructed centering the districts of Matara, Hambantota, Moneragala, Ratnapura, Badulla and Ampara. It is expected that the new Airport will generate several thousand employment opportunities for the youth in the surrounding districts and it would boost the life standards and economic activities of these districts immensely.
0 comments:
Post a Comment