Sri Lanka looks at upgrading Hingurakgoda domestic airport
The Morning: The Government has decided to modernise the Hingurakgoda Domestic Airport, an antiquated airport in Sri Lanka, to facilitate international flight operations, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation said in a statement.
This airport, originally constructed for the Royal Air Force of England during World War II, was known as RAF Minneriya at the time.
Under the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the current Government aims to transform this centrally located airport into an international airport to bolster the country’s economy. As part of this initiative, the 2024 budget includes a financial allocation of Rs. 2 billion to commence initial construction and development activities.
With this funding, the first phase of development will focus on extending the existing 2287-metre-long and 46-metre-wide runway to 2500 metres.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation emphasises that upon completion of these enhancements, the runway will be capable of accommodating Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 aircraft. The total Project cost is Rs. 17 billion.
In order to assess existing challenges and conduct a feasibility study to guide the development efforts at Hingurakgoda Airport, Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva conducted a special inspection at the airport on 4 April.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation K.D.S.Ruwanchandra, Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa, Civil Aviation Authority Acting Chairperson Mangala Wijesinghe, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. Chairperson Athula Galketiya, Civil Aviation Services Authority Director Air Vice Marshal Sagara Kotakadeniya and several officials were also present at the occasion.
In the discussion, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said: “Through the modernisation of this airport, we hope to transform it into an international airport in the future for which the President has given Rs. 2 billion in the budget of 2023 to start the construction. Accordingly, every year to come Higurakgoda is working to provide funds from the budget for the construction of the airport.”
Explaining further, the Minister said, “Our ultimate goal is to operate Mattala, Katunayake, Ratmalana and Palali airports as well as Hingurakgoda airport as a civil airport.”
Therefore, he asked for the support of all parties to make this development project a success.
OSL take:
Given the ongoing economic activities and the overall expansion of key economic sectors, there is a growing need for the strengthening of Sri Lanka’s internal and external connectivity. The expanding economic activities in the country, especially the growth in the tourism industry have resulted in an increase in the number of flights operated to the country by international airlines. These developments in turn have resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s airport and aviation industry. The opportunities also include the development of infrastructure and supplementary infrastructure facilities required by the industry to meet the growing demand among other direct and indirect business/investment opportunities. The Sri Lankan government’s decisions to develop and upgrade several selected domestic airports to further improve connectivity have presented a host of new business/investment opportunities. With Sri Lanka fast becoming a regional hub with an overall expansion in key economic sectors including the airport and aviation industry, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the growing opportunities in the country.