My suggestion for HRI is for it to be an aviation knowledge and technical hub;

1) Location for Manufacturers like Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, and Bombardier. Boeing and Airbus have a number of plants in Asia which manufacture aircraft parts (e.g. Singapore). Enabling HRI to be developed into something like that will allow for way lower costs than places like Singapore, and will allow for lesser popular companies like Embraer and Bombardier to reach out to the African, Chinese and Indian markets where aircraft orders are ballooning.

2) Properly invest in making HRI a full-scale MRO hub. Has anyone heard of what happened with the planned collaboration with Lufthansa Teknik

3) Open up a branch of Cranfield, Embry-Riddle, or even the Singapore Aviation Academy. Have the government invest tons into its becoming a aviation-research park. It would be innovative, and something unheard of in this region. Attract foreign collaboration, etc. Not only make this an aviation school for pilots, but also a proper institute with a number of other subjects on offer. Cranfield and Embry are basic the Harvards of the aviation world, and it would allow them to attract a lot of international students in the region. It would be very similar to what Monash has done with opening overseas campuses (E.g. in geographically strategic, low cost locations which can attract a wide catchment of students)HRI could even become a university town! Just like those that are in States with a high number of research institutions. The money has already been spent, so it has to be used in a smart way.

Sorry - strongly disagree.

All of these suggestions require massive investment - I doubt this would make the operation of HRI profitable. The only money going to the airport would be leasing fees for the land and landing/handling fees.

The big picture - Sri Lanka is in terrible financial shape. There is no money available. Enough public funds have been wasted on this already. Cheapest option will be to close this down.

This should never have been built in the first place - it's time people recognise this.

All of these options require large numbers of skilled staff - where are they going to come from? The expertise does not exist in Sri Lanka and if you train people they will be able to earn 2 or 3 times the salary working overseas. What do you think will happen?

Close it down - investigate the entire project and charge those responsible. Let's have some accountability for a change!

ejanson65 - As you can see from my post, I did not attach a date for it. This was for the specific reason you highlighted; the fact that Sri Lanka is in massive debt, and many other priorities need to place with our national budget. This is a project I would like to see happen over the long term (i.e. 2035/2045). As our current thread discussions have been what to do with HRI, this was simply me sharing what I believe is best for the land in the long term now that it has been built.

However, your statement about the land leasing/handling fees is inaccurate. A future project of this scale would provide massive foreign investment to the area, job generation, as well as a foray into what Sri Lanka is lacking; innovation and knowledge creation, especially in a niche area.

Today F-WWCP heading some where - http://www.flightradar24.com/data/ai...f-wwcp#5615826

Not seen today !!!
Sorry.

4r-aln

4R-ALN / F-WWCP f/f 28jan15, ferried 29jan15 TLS-CHR for paint

Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that the government plans to merge the national carrier SriLankan Airlines and the Mihin Lanka budget airline.

SriLankan Airlines has lost over 100 billion rupees over the past five years and Mihin Airlines has lost 15 billion rupees in the same period.

Arghhh, bad day today !!! we have heavy rain from this morning ...
I'll keep a look on FR24 to ( try ) go.
Thank for the advisory.

Close it down ? and then the millions pumped into things from the runway lighting to approach radar to ..

there are options which don't require investment, like MRO, or lease it to a private operator, like Fedex/DHL did, in other countries

I am sure, with an attractive lease, somebody will be tempted ..

PS, as for skilled staff, well, let me not tell you this, that most third world MRO companies didn't start with skilled staff, they acquired it as part of re-skilling ..

I got the 4R-ALN this afternoon . Châteauroux airport for livrery .
Please enjoy !!







Bad, bad weather.

Does this have the center fuel tanks??

Wow

Yeh I agree with you, closing it down after spending $200m is just dumb. At least if you lease parts of the land (to MROs, flight schools etc) you can recover some of the $200m back. And no investment would be needed by the govt since the lessees would be investing in these facilities, not the government. IMHO SLAA is right on the money here.

Great pics! Many thanks!

Privatize Mattala Airport !!

After 1987, when the United Kingdom privatised the BAA, the interest for privatization has been increasing across the world. In fact, more than 20 countries have completed the sale or lease of airport facilities so far. Some of them are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and Switzerland.

In the United States, commercial airports have traditionally been independent of the national control, operated locally by local or regional authorities and highly influenced by private interests, specifically the airlines (with enough power to decide major facets of airport management and development). While the degree of participation of private interests in airports differs broadly among states and cities, major U.S. commercial airports are operated through partnerships between the government and private firms.

The preferred model of privatisation of airports in Europe has been the sale of equity. This was pioneered by the United Kingdom with its initial public offering of 100 percent shares of the former BAA in 1986. After being privatised, BAA, plc has become one of the biggest international participants in the airport industry.

The Australian airports privatization program began in April 1994 when the Australian Government announced its decision to sell 22 airports (in several phases) that were owned and operated by the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC). A particularity of the Australian airport landscape (also seen in the United States) has been the use of the lease model for management of domestic terminals. Under long-term leases, airlines are responsible for all operational features at the terminal.

In addition, at some airports, including Melbourne and Sydney, airline responsibility extends to providing and maintaining terminal infrastructure, with the airport operator providing only the land for the domestic terminals that are under lease.

In other Asian countries, many major airports are expected to be privatised in the near future. Among them are those in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and several airports in India. Currently, the airport landscape in China can be defined by a group of prospering big airports (especially those in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen). The ongoing structural reform in airport sector has provided an opportunity for these airports to seek funding from capital markets as well as strategic investors.

In Latin America, the most common way of privatising airports has been through concession contracts. Concessions allow a country to retain ownership of airport assets while private promoters carry out the investments required. Additionally, the lack of developed capital markets presents a major hurdle for other ways of privatisation.