Sunday, 03rd August 2014
By Manjula Fernando
Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. (AASL) Chairman Prasanna Wickramasuriya dismissed allegations by the main Opposition UNP over the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa International airport saying that Sri Lanka was on the right course towards becoming the aviation hub of Asia.
He rejected a recent report that poorly rated the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) adding that all the well- known organisation in the field of rating airlines and airports worldwide had ranked Sri Lanka's primary international airport exceptionally.
Q: On what basis do you reject the ratings in the ‘Global Airport Performance Benchmark Project’ by Airport Transport Research Society ( ATRS) on BIA?
Despite the poor ratings by this particular research body, several other well known organisations including Airports Council International ( ACI), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Air Transport Association (IATA) and SKYTRAX have rated BIA very highly in their latest reports.
According to the AASL, the BIA was ranked fourth in the Best Airports in Central Asia in 2014 while ICAO ranked Sri Lanka fifth in the region in its Safety Rank Audit of 2014.
I think it was a case of an erroneously misquoted report. The report has been either misquoted or they have misrepresented the data, intentionally or otherwise. Somehow it has distorted the facts.
ATRS has divided the airports into three regions; Asia, Europe and the US. In the Asian region they have selected 37 airports, including those in the middle east also.
Out of 200 airports they have singled out 37 and I think even getting selected into this list of 37 itself is an achievement - for them to consider Colombo as an important airport to be included in the survey.
Out of this 37 we are in the 25th position. It is an achievement to be ahead of Manila, Taipei, Mumbai, Chennai and most of the Indian Airports. Based on cost competitiveness, BIA was ahead of even Narita, Bangkok and Beijing under ATRS ratings.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has envisaged Sri Lanka to be the aviation hub in Asia. Sri Lanka's geographical location is a blessing for us.
In four hours we can cover most of the major cities in Asia. In eight hours we could cover most of the continents other than the American continent. Sri Lanka is strategically located. The President saw this advantage and through Mahinda Chinthana vision for the future, he says we need to get the maximum benefit out of this strategic location. We are now rapidly marching towards becoming an aviation hub in Asia.
Q: What is the projected capacity in millions of passengers a year at the end of BIA's progress and expansion project by 2020 ?
We want to enhance by 21 million passenger capacity. At the BIA we want to add another nine million passenger capacity terminal building in another two years. This will increase the passenger capacity at BIA to 15 million.
Mattala could handle one million passengers at the moment, by 2020 we have plans to expand this up to six million. Altogether the two international airports will have 21 million passenger capacity by 2020.
In addition we would be adding up to 350 metric tonnes of cargo handling at BIA and 200 metric tonnes of cargo capacity to Mattala by 2010.
In 2013, three major carriers joined BIA, British Airways, Korean Airways and Turkish Airways. My staff is very efficient and I have a lot of confidence in them. We are confident that Sri Lanka will be come a regional aviations hub very soon.
Q: Do you believe that these targets are easily achievable ?
I believe these projections are within our reach. After the war with terrorists under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, within 2009 to 2013 the passenger capacity was increased by 72 per cent. You can imagine the fast track development the country is marching towards.
Not only that, with the establishment of Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, foreign airlines flying over Sri Lanka has risen. Mattala International Airport has a A380 facilitated runway. It can land the biggest airplanes in the world. To cite an example aircraft taking off from Sydney to Dubai are now flying over Sri Lanka because of an agreement to facilitate landing in Mattala.
With this, our revenue from over flying has also gone up since the establishment of MIA. Besides the direct revenue, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has earned a revenue of about Rs.650 million out of refuelling for aircraft within the one year it has been in operation.
The airport has handled close upon 60,000 passengers. The future plans include setting up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at Mattala and a training academy by mid next year.
This will be one of our main revenue generators in the future. Mattala will primarily serve as the leisure gateway of the island. Hot tourist attractions such as Nuwara Eliya is just three hour drive away from Mattala and likewise Arugam Bay is about three hours and Yala sanctuary is about 35 minutes away.
Leading tour operators are interested in bringing their tourists directly to Mattala where there is less passenger traffic and less road traffic. They have seen the benefits of using Mattala.
Q: How would you respond to allegations by the main Opposition UNP that Mattala is a disappointment to the Government and that it has generated only Rs.16,000 in profits in May ?
Those are again misquoted information. In the month of May we have generated a revenue of 5.2 million. Hey were quoting a Fly Dubai airlines figure. Fly Dubai did not call over at Mattala in May. In Dubai one of their runways were under repair, therefore this particular airline was compelled not to operate flights to Mattala in May. We were given prior notice. They have now resumed flights. That particular figure that they were quoting is related to this particular airline.
I think the UNP has misquoted the Minister, may be with ulterior motives.
They are welcome to go to Mattala and see for themselves what is going on there. Despite chaos during their the UNP MPs visit to Mattala in April, they had a good briefing on its activities and were enlightened on the revenue and about the airline traffic to Mattala. They are well aware of these things.
Q: According to your perspective is it good to have an open-skies policy for a country like Sri Lanka ?
This is something the Ministry has to comment as it involves government policy. I personally think whatever we do, we must not jeopardize the interests of our national carrier. Any country will take measures to protect its national carrier, any action which does not put Sri Lankan Airlines at stake is welcome.
Q: Any new bi-lateral air-services agreements in the offing?
An agreement with LOT Polish Airlines, the flag carrier of Poland is in the pipeline.
From: http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2014/08/03/fea02.asp
