All this costs money - and there is no more money. It's all been spent or stolen.

HRI needs to be closed down asap imho - bottomless pit for money!

I disagree.

UL (which I firmly believe should be disbanded immediately) and HRI are two different animals.

UL adds no value for the country, quite the contrary.

But as the second airport HRI is a must have and needs to be maintained. Should it have been located differently? probably YES. But now that it is operational, it must me maintained even if it costs some money.

If UL is closed down immediately, there are plenty other airlines to pick up the slack and keep SL connected. They might even do a better job at it, if CMB airport is managed in a professional way, compared to the fees gouging hole that it is today.

But if CMB goes out of action (like it did in July, 2001) without the use of HRI, the country will be completely isolated from the rest of the world (aviation-wise) and that is not a price we should be willing to pay.

Besides, compared to the billions SL tax payers are throwing at UL to subsidize the airtravel of European back packers, monies spent to maintain HRI are minuscule.

I think part of the problem is the paranoia that Colombo could be attacked from air and stationing the fighters in CMB will help protect the city due to proximity. It is part of the air defenses for the capital.

But given the current status of the SLAF fighter fleet (they have very few air-worthy crafts and no confirmation on the new acquisitions) occupying valuable real estate in CMB seems to be a moot point.

If the government wants to remedy the situation, they could;

1. Invest in a longer range radar to increase the early warning capabilities, thereby buying more time ahead of an attack.
2. Choose a fighter jet that has better speed and range capabilities to accommodate the flight to and from HRI.

I am certain the additional money spent on the above two would be a fraction of a fraction of what could be earned by properly developing CMB by removing the military elements.

I guess the biggest challenge would be to convince the senior SLAF personnel to move from Colombo to Hambantota.

I am not sure about the feasibility of HRI due to :-

1) The massive loan hanging over it
2) It has been developed as a civilian airport (true it can be used as a military base but it makes sense to try and utilize as a civilian facility to recover the debt)
3) Large number of migratory bird activity - Last thing you want is fighter jets falling out due to bird strike, I have a feeling what the airforce can afford might be a single engine option unless Russia gives a credit line say to get SU-30s

Sigiriya was always bandied around the airforce alternative preference to move the jet fleet and keeps coming up frequently but I am not sure what the status of it is.

China bay is already housing the K-7 jet trainer aircraft so it's not much of an issue to be able to use\adapt an existing airforce base for the fighter squadron, and if they do go for 12 it might even make sense to split the squadron up?

I used to remember in the early 90s when there was no fighters in the airforce we used to have frequent incursion into our airspace by other airforces on a daily basis, that is the main reason Premadasa acquired the F-7s. That might be the basis on why there is an eagerness to have a fighter squadron.

At the risk of deviating in to a military aviation discussion, in short:

1. Sri Lanka absolutely must have a potent fighter squadron capable of running intercepts. This will act as a deterrent for intruders at the very least.

2. Not sure if Sigiriya runway is long enough to accommodate SU-30 sized jets, but China Bay should be sufficient.

3. Yes, MRI was purpose built as a civil and cargo airport and may not be suited to host a squadron of fighters, but given that it is not utilized, it will help if CMB can be freed by moving the military elements there.

It looks like UL will loose money due to cancellation of most of the UL flights to India and the Maldives due to CMB runway maintenance in Jan-Apr 2017.

Could RML be able handle A320s ? So UL can operate the India and Maldives flights out of RML between Jan-Apr 2017.

How much would a new runway would have cost ?

According to wiki length wise Ratmalana airport is a little over 6000 ft and should be able to handle a A320 according to Airbus specs? I am not sure about the width though; can someone else clarify?

According to this article the current runway overlay is costing US$48,600

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160828/bus...ay-206213.html

I am not sure how much building a new runway at BIA would cost, there is the additional cost of moving the air force infrastructure as well.

There is this interesting article on how much it cost to build a new runway in Fort Lauderdale (US $ 750 million) http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/201...roject-manager, but it shouldn't be as high in SL due to the labor costs.

Does anyone have figures on how much the runway cost for HRI?

Will they be clearing the Air Force base at Katunayake? Yes isn't it? So yeah when the Air Force aircraft, such as the C130 and the An-32b come to be based at Ratmalana, I don't think that there will be enough space and parking bays for the A320 (That is only if Ratmalana can handle such aircraft). So yeah.

Ratmalana cannot handle the A320. While the length is sufficient for operations with favorable conditions you also need to account for width, pavement strength, taxiway compatibility ramp space etc. I think we'd also need to consider it from a commercial standpoint how much payload can you realistically lift out of Ratmalana, because the heavier the bird gets the more runway she will need.

I think the USD 50K cost mentioned in the article is not correct. This is way too low. The article also quotes a figure of USD 524K and that is slightly more plausible.

Why doesn't SpiceJet and Maldivian Airlines operate their turbo-prop operations to Ratmalana Airport from the Maldives and India ? Is there any issues with Yield/PLF in operating into Ratmalana?

Another problem with RML is the terminal. It is very small to begin with, lack of enough passport control counters for daily international flights, lack of international standard security equipment, no duty free shops, one small canteen