Sri Lankan government to commence development work of northern Palaly Airport on Friday
The Sri Lankan government has decided to launch the development work on the Palaly Airport located in the country’s Northern Province on Friday (5).
The airport is to be developed as a regional airport that operates commercial flights in the region and the development work is to be carried out with an investment of Rs.19.5 billion.
The official inauguration ceremony on Friday is to be held under the patronage of Sri Lanka’s Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga at the Palaly Airport in Kankesanthurai.
A Cabinet proposal presented by Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlements and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development, Vocational Training and Skills Development and Youth Affairs had received approval for in January this year.
Once completed, the strategically located Palaly airport will have the capacity to handle direct commercial flights to countries like India, Australia, China, Japan, Middle East nations, and several European countries, the local media has reported.
According to local English daily, development of the Northern Province was underscored as a top priority for the Government’s development agenda, and the government believes an international airport in the peninsula would boost the region’s economy significantly.
The airport is to be developed in two stages – expansions of the runway and related facilities will be completed during the first phase, while permanent terminal buildings will be constructed during the second phase, once the airport attracts a significant amount of air traffic.
OSL take:
The development of Sri Lanka’s northern Palaly airport as a regional airport that operates commercial flights to the region would help further boost bilateral and trade ties between countries in the region. It would also help boost tourism, trade and investment sectors in Sri Lanka. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean region, a regional airport would add to the ease of handling trade logistics between Sri Lanka and other regional markets. The many trade agreements and trade concessions would also be an added incentive to businesses operating in Sri Lanka that deals with foreign markets. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore opportunities of setting up base in Sri Lanka to engage in business activities with the region. Also, foreign businesses could explore for opportunities to build supplementary infrastructure facilities in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province along with the development of the Palaly regional airport.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/03072019/Z_4 |