Same here Banu.... Haven't seen any construction work..

According to the Government, the MRIA has incurred a loss of USD 112.9 million as at December 31, 2016 and proposals have been called from investors to turn the airport into a profit-sharing joint venture. However, no proposals have been received that covers operations, management and maintenance of the airport.

A proposal has been received in the meanwhile by the Indian Government considering all aspects of the MRIA. A proposal made by Minister of Transport & Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva, to appoint a committee comprised of several senior Secretaries to Ministries to further study the proposal, was approved by Cabinet this week.



Due to the low number of flights, it has been proposed to offer long-term aircraft parking services as well as creating flying schools and maintenance services to be offered from the airport.

India To Sri Lanka: Forget China, We Want Your Empty Airport

Indian company to takeover Sri Lanka’s empty international airport.

Any update on duty free shops at BIA, some time ago world duty free pulled out and that block of space has now been taken over by flamingo, so what has AASL planned about doing with the free block of space. Will world duty free return and if not what will happen to all employees and stakeholders of that company.

Arrival Duty Free is like a desert, It doesn't have any attractive appearance!. Salesman are like people who sell flowers at Katharagama, They are actually begging from the people! That's not how it should be since it is the first place foreign travelers get to see once they enter to the airport.

They haven't mentioned when they would start operations in world duty free.will this mean that the old employees who worked in world duty free be re-instated. Also I feel like there is a significant difference in quality among the two shops, if you take Chocolates for example. World duty offers a much better quality product.

Rs.1 bln facelift for Palaly airport

Sri Lankan authorities are currently looking at the possibility of developing the Palaly airport with state assistance amounting to about Rs.1 billion.

The airport had been under the scanner by the Indian government which had expressed interest in developing, viewing it as a regional airport as well.

Director General Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) H.M.C. Nimalsiri told the Business Times that the local authorities were to go ahead with the development of the Palaly airport as a civilian airport depending on the availability of funds.

He said they would request for an allocation of Rs.1 billion in the 2018 budget due in November.

The CAA had written to the Indian officials to obtain their response on the development of the said airport but had not yet received any communiqué in this regard.
Discussions between the Indians and the Aviation Ministry were held last year regarding the development of the Northern airstrip which is currently run by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).

India has been interested in operating direct flight services between Jaffna and some southern Indian states like Madurai or Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu or Thiruvanathapuram in Kerala even with the present facilities available at this facility.

This project came in for criticism from some of the Tamil leaders like Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran who raised his objections with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to India funding the development of this airport.

Under the renovation plan, the airfield will be converted from the existing 1000 metre runway to a 1200 metre runway.

At present there is one terminal that has a capacity of about 200 people which is expected to be assessed for development, Mr. Nimalsiri explained.

Currently the SLAF operates Hercules C130 and Antonov An32 transport aircraft and Helitours run Chinese Xian MA60 type aircraft, SLAF spokesman Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne stated.

The Sunday Times

looks like some airlines are avoiding expensive CMB for technical stop



was in Colombo for 4 days in August...outbound in Colombo airport is a nightmare with 3 x-rays and 4 line ups

Was there a couple of weeks ago after 3 years; don't see any improvements or renovation\new build other than the tunnel connecting the entrance to the airport in departures. See quite a lot of changes in Changi in the same period..

Tried to buy 3 desktop fans and was told by the duty free sales guy I ned 3 passports (even though I have the allowance). Quite absurd really.

BIA phase II Stage 2 The project has been divided into 2 Packages and the bidding has been completed for both Packages.

The bids for Package A- “Terminal building and associated works” is under evaluation and it is expected to commence the construction work by November 2017 with the selection of the main contractor and the work is expected to be completed for the operation by the end of year 2020.

The construction work of Package B –“Remote Apron and Taxiways” commenced in April 2017 and the work is expected to be completed by October 2019.

http://www.airport.lk/aasl/developme...II_Stage-2.php

The Mattala Intentional Airport would once again start active commercial operations from the end of the year, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.