Sri Lanka's 2nd International Airport awarded International Airport Certification Ceremonial Opening Monday

Details Published on Sunday, 17 March 2013 00:03

Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Ministry said that its proposed second international Air Port has been awarded the international compliance certificate for its operation.

The minister of Civil Aviation said that the International Airport Certification (certifications of compliance and certification of aerodrome) to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport has been awarded and this would enable the Air Port to operate as an international airport from its inception.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will commission Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport on March 18. This is the second International Airport in Sri Lanka, he said.

"This is the first ever Sri Lankan International Airport to be operated as an International Airport from the day one of its commencement of operations", Civil Aviation Minister Piyankara Jayaratne has said.

He also said the BIA commenced operations in 1963, but received international status in 1968.

This is considered as a significant landmark in the journey of Sri Lanka towards becoming the aviation hub in Asia under Mahinda Chinthanaya - Vision for the Future. The airport has a one million passenger handling capacity.

Minister Jayaratne pointed out that the second phase of the development project will commence after March 18 which will give a handling of nine million passenger capacity by June 2015. After completion of its second phase, the Mattala international airport will handle five million passengers.

Once all development projects are completed, Sri Lanka's International Airports will have the capacity of handling 21 million passengers annually.

Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lufthansa to set up a aircraft maintenance centre. This would bring a significant amount of income to Sri Lanka.

The minister has pointed that the Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority is in 19 place among 181 countries in the world, fourth place among 34 countries in the Pacific region and first place in South Asia, in its capability and carrying out its services/duties.
http://www.news.lk/news/sri-lanka/4588-sri-lankas-2nd-international-airport-awarded-international-airport-certification-ceremonial-opening-monday

රජතුමා ජපානයේ සිට කෙලින්ම මත්තලට ගොඩ බහින්න එනවා වගේ !

MP Namal Rajapaksa said yesterday that the international airport in Mattala, opening today, will have a major boost to the economy in the south as well as to Sri Lanka overall.

“The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) will not only benefit the aviation sector; a host of other connected developments within Hambantota will spur the economy of the south and the country at large,” Namal told the Daily FT. “The importance of the Mattala Airport must be viewed in a holistic sense.

The Magampura sea port, the upcoming IT park, new hotel developments, Hambantota as a sports city, etc., are also connected to the overall push to reinvigorate the south and its economic contribution to the country,” emphasised Namal, who has been a key champion of socioeconomic development in the area.

A free-port area encompassing the MRIA and Magampura sea port (17 minutes’ drive between the two) will be launched following the passing of new legislation whilst the Southern Expressway is being extended to Matara and on to Hambantota as well.

There are nine districts and three provinces surrounding Mattala Airport and its success will have a positive impact across with the creation of a new set of industries and entrepreneurs, especially the small and medium scale.

The country’s second international airport, MRIA, with an envisaged investment of $ 330 million will be ceremoniously opened today at 10 a.m. by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The MRIA complex encompasses a total land area of 2,000 hectares, with the first stage taking up only 800 hectares. The latter at present has been utilised with 400 hectares for the main terminal and related facilities and the balance for the planned aviation-related industrial area.

An investment of $ 209 million has gone into the first phase of Stage One, which is due to be opened on 18 March and a further $ 120 million will be spent to complete the phase two of Stage one.

MRIA will initially (as per Stage One) have the capacity to handle one million passengers per annum with two aero bridges and 10 parking bays for aircraft. From day one, i.e. from 18 March, MRIA will be able to handle the super jumbo A380, which the incumbent and flagship Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) cannot accommodate as yet. MRIA will also be able handle 30,000 aircraft movements per annum.
Via Stage 2 to be completed by 2016, MRIA will be expanded to handle five to six million passengers with 15 aero bridges and 20 parking slots for aircraft with 45,000 aircraft movements per annum.

Cargo capacity under stage is 45,000 metric tons and up to 150,000 metric tons under Stage 2.

Together with the on-going expansion at flagship Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, the country’s overall passenger handling capacity is estimated to be expanded to 21 million by 2016 with Mattala accounting for five to six million passengers. BIA handled seven million passengers last year.
http://www.ft.lk/2013/03/18/namal-says-mattala-airport-will-boost-overall-economy-of-south-and-sri-lanka/

Chinwi wrote:රජතුමා ජපානයේ සිට කෙලින්ම මත්තලට ගොඩ බහින්න එනවා වගේ !

Singapore පැත්තේ පොඩි රව්මක් දාගෙනම ඒවිද දන්නේ නැහෙ

1044hr 18-03-2013 History in making

UL 001 Approaching to Maththala. VVIP on board

Dear Chinwi .

What is the software u use. Can I also see this aviation map online. I don't know any thing about this.......

Chinwi wrote:1044hr 18-03-2013 History in making

UL 001 Approaching to Maththala. VVIP on board

like we did 2 years ago, nereby place in couples of more KMs away from mattala.

Magampura Port.

salt wrote:

like we did 2 years ago, nereby place in couples of more KMs away from mattala.

Magampura Port.

I do not know about the future or I am not following the media shows blindly.

I always enjoy these affairs. Like we followed the war day by day in 2009.
Somehow I can remember from early days (1960s ) many people were talking about a new airport and highways.

Arena wrote:Dear Chinwi .

What is the software u use. Can I also see this aviation map online. I don't know any thing about this.......

No and Yes.

You cannot trap or locate all the flights in the air. If you have SSB receiver you can listen to ATC conversations. Many years ago we could use normal Short Wave radios to listen distance aircraft and control towers. When they come closer to the country they change to VHF 119.1 , 118.1 for approach control.
To understand their messages you must learn about air routes, position names, ATC alphabet (http://www.cfidarren.com/r-atc9.gif) etc. I learnt all these things by listening to them for many years.

Now, we do not have to waste time.
With the arrival of internet, some sites give us real time information by trapping a newest system used in some aircraft. And, it is not illegal.

It is like this:

Every modern aircraft gets its location from GPS.
There is also a unit called ADS-B unit on modern aircraft linked to GPS.
It transmits signal containing the location and other data of the aircraft to nearby aircraft and to ground stations. Close-by aircraft with ADS-B units exchange their data with each other and use like automated handshaking to avoid collision among them, without manual involvement. This is in addition to other sophisticated collision avoidance systems fixed in every plane.

This ADS-B signal can be picked up by any person who has a receiver designed for it. These receivers are available in international open market.
Volunteers all over the world run these receivers to get data from nearby planes and feed to the web servers through their computers. Hence, we can see the real time positions and other data of those planes, world wide.

There are many planes come without ADS to Katunayaka and we cannot locate them.

Many Sri Lankan, Emirates, Malaysian, SG planes are now equipped with this facility.
I do not know who feed data from SL, we can follow an approaching plane until it reach very closer to the runway. In Male and Bangkok they feed until it reach to the terminal !.

try http://www.flightradar24.com

You can enlarge the map to get closer look. Click on the plane to get data.

Today I watched all the 4 plans arriving to Mattala.
UL 226 ( 2nd to land) circled between Horana and Deniyaya about 25 minutes until they cleared it to land after the first stage of the the ceremony.

WOW the link is great.

Thanks chinwi.