Are You Mahinda R ???

I agree with slaviator..

srilankan1 & speedbird - If you think HRI is a bad idea. Would you choose a location for Sri Lanka's second international airport?

Then again, there are those who say "build and they will come .. " so it is a question of chicken and egg

What was that ? with all the animosity with South India, and lack of interest in pacifying the vociferous crowd there, and vice versa, SL is possibly but slowly killing it's golden egg laying goose .. I may be wrong though .. once 9W and SG and others solidify their presence, UL will be a bystander in the Indian Traffic .. says me .. India is actively scouting 7th and 8th Freedom rights .. and SL may not be able to say "NO"

I remember when I flew into TRZ years ago .. like 20 years ago ? it was nothing but a hot boiling piece of tarmac in the middle of the dessert .. fast forward to 2013, it has been upgraded and updated ..

So, while I have my reservations vis-a-vis MRIA, well, the fact that a second airport is good to have (albeit made out of Chinese pockets) is true and true ..

I would have, for the size of Sri Lanka, preferred Katunayake to have a second runway, by additional land acquisition, preferably parallel or diagnol, so as to have unimpeded flight ops, even when one of the antique crates flying in SL skies come down without warning and block a runway .. before going for another completely new terminal / airport

After all, when Singapore's projecton exceeded Paya Lebar's capacity, they didn't go about making another parallel airport - they built Changi, and left Paya Lebar to handle USAF, Fedex and UPS MRO, and the small Airbase in op. And the plans are to add more runways to Changi, and leave Paya Lebar as it is, as an Air force and MRO base .. so any under-maintenance / repair plane sitting disabled in the active in Paya Lebar will not impede Changi's op ...

And the other AF bases are left for Air Force only ..

So could it have been, for MRIA- move the Airbase out of Katunayake and get a second runway .. and / or run domestic flights Katunayake to HRIA .. it is not as if the tourists who flew 12 hours from Europe are gonna go berserk when told they need to bus it for an hour from HRIA vs 3 or 4 hour from Katunayake ?? or did I miss something ?? (I am going on the oft promoted line that the airport is primarily for tourists to reach the beach faster .. )

Wishful thinking - but, well, since the die is cast, what's the point of fault finding ??

I was chatting with some airline personnel last week and they were convinced that the MRIA is needed to handle EK 380 diversions - yah right- I casually asked if the tow bars have been moved, and pray, how does an A380 do a 180 in the end of the Runway ..

And so was it, for the Fuel Uplifting, for CMB-HRI-anywhere flights .. or vice versa ..

then again, over a bottle of Black Label we concluded that the Powers-be know what they are doing (and in time when somebody remarked that they saw the AASL Catering Trucks being migrated to HRIA)

Borrowed from Center for Aviation .. Layout of MRIA



and in this link .. is that a lump of turd ?? well, no fence ??

Palali airport to be upgraded to int’l level



I know that Palali was upgraded with the Air Forces attention and are looking to expand further...

As for the 2nd runaway at Katunayake it will happen as far as I heard... lands and abandoned factories are already being reclaimed as we speak....there are land rights cases going on as well....

IMHO
Priority should be as follows...second runway in CMB and simultaneously upgrading and extending runway at RML to cater for A320 and B737 and move LCC traffic to RML
Second Airport should be JAF or TRR...
Sri Lanka does not have the money to do experimental pie in the sky projects.

This should be the Top priority for me.

IMO Anuradhapura or Vavuniya District would be ideal and it is accessable easily from many parts of Sri lanka(ex - Kandy, Trinco, Kurunegala,Jaffna)

Also Koggala is also a good place for an International Airport which is situated near to a Free Trade Zone and very popular Tourist Area.

And I heard before setting a location a New Airport they have evaluated 5 places in Sri lanka and the Mattala was the last. Dont know how true it is since there is no official reports.

First you do not know any thing about transhipment business.
here is quick brief on the transhipment business:
Mega carriers operates a hub and spoke type of operation (well I assume you know that)
How the hubs are chosen:
Rule number one is: Cost and Second is what is the turnaround time in the terminal
third if the carrier hold any share/ownership in the terminal.
turn around time is very important. today mega carriers operates large ships over 8000TEUs. Today Hambantota port cannot accommodate any mega carriers. it does not have any container terminals or ship to shore gantry cranes. There is another problem in Hambantota; thats is maintain the draft inside the port basin. Second is bunkering; CPC cannot compete against Singapore or UAE. CPC does not have refinery capability.
BTW Indian Ports are expanding; JNPT now handles more container throughput than Colombo. It is matter of time...

BTW:My Father is from Hambantota; I know what Hambantota is capable of and what it is not. Hambantoa requires heavy industries including a oil refinery

and finally you do wear rose colored glasses...Tax payers money does not belong to ruling elite for pork barrel spending; it belong to Tax payers.

Second runway should be highest priority...It is requirement as per ICAO report nearly 20 years ago

If you read up a bit more often you would know that a Oil Refinery has been built and is in the pre-commissioning stage.



With regard to the future plans and the notion of an integrated hub it's listed very well here....like I mentioned before even with my rose-petalled glasses (as you keep on stressing) Hambantota will be positioned in that way of an integrated hub for shipping....

This was written by an former Economic Adviser to a UN body...he rightly points out the next important steps and is valuable advice...which I agree with



Construction of the US$ 76.5 million tank farm and bunkering facilities commenced in October 2009 and completed in 2011.

Han Quin Engineering Construction Company of China was the contractor for the tank farm which consists of 14 tanks namely eight marine fuel tanks for oil ships, three tanks for LPG storage and three for aviation fuel. A 15-storey port administrative building of 100,000 sq ft was also built.

The dredging for the second phase was slightly delayed due to the presence of a huge rock near the entrance to the harbour, which was blasted at a cost of US$ 40 million.

The second phase consisting of three stages is expected to be operational in 2014 and will cost US$ 810 million, financed by the Export–Import Bank of China.
The first stage will also include a 2140m long quay wall to accommodate four 100,000 ton and two 10,000 ton wharf berths.

The second stage will include development of offshore artificial island with an elevation of eight meters.

The third stage will involve the construction of a container oil terminal of 300m long and 17m depth four 100,000 DWT container berths and one 100,000 DWT oil wharf and two 30,000 DWT feeder berths. About 400,000 sq meters of roads and a flyover bridge are expected to be completed.

A 400,000 sq m of harbor basin, a 60 ha of yard area with associated yard handling will also be developed. China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), the parent company of CHEC was awarded the second phase contract in 2011.

The third phase is expected to be completed by 2023 and will involve a dockyard for shipbuilding repairing in a tax free zone with an estimated investment of US$ 550 million.

The port area will include cement grinding, storage and bagging facilities, a fertilizer manufacturing, storage and packaging plant, an LP gas distribution facility, a warehousing complex, a vehicle assembling facility, a flour mill, a food processing and packaging facility and other associated import and export businesses as well as an oil refinery.

It was initially chosen to be Weerawilla but Environmentalists put an end to that idea....Kogala doesnt have enough room and land would have been much cheaper in Hambantota

Are you Wimal W?

At this current stage with Palali coming onboard you are getting your wish, but again other than a few flights from India, I dont see much traffic their as well and that would be a standalone airport....

RML might be a good idea but space is at a premium with schools on one side, road on the other and residential areas...I dont see it happening

I never knew even you could not even read properly... there is NO OIL REFINERY has been build any where in Sri Lanka for last 40+ years. This is tank farm for storage and supply refined products.

I dont wish; I look at facts and reality
RML can be easily extended by another 600m which will be enough for A320s and B737s...even today LCY runway length is only 1508m where as RML is 2000m
yes of course you don't see it because pork barrel spending is happening right now

What is difference between Weerawila and Mattala...it is same thing; still a location problem