By: Staff Writer
February 18, Colombo (LNW): Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd has led the the facilitation of an improved capacity for passenger air cargo operations at Bandaranaike International Airport .Jaffna International Airport (JIA) and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), officials of the AASL said.
The sixth air cargo terminal is to be added to BIA as a new import air cargo building. By strategically switching the current import terminal facility to export operations, customers will benefit from an increase in the overall capacity of up to 400,000 MT from 250,000 MT.
AASL ground handling service at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) was launched by providing its ground handling services to domestic airlines with incoming passengers.
With the intention of providing ground handling services for international flight operations, AASL launched its own Ground Handling Services Training Wing at MRIA, marking another significant historical momentum a high official of the AASL claimed.
The profitability of the AASL increased to Rs. 11,624 million in the first four months of 2023 compared to the loss of Rs. 6,407 million recorded in the same period of 2022.
Sri Lanka’s airports managed to accommodate a total of 846,173 passengers in 2024, with 207,182 being tourists, the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited (AASL) said.
The Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Jaffna International Airport (JIA) and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) have facilted considerable number of passengers last year.
BIA facilitated 846,173 international passenger movements in January 2024, with an average of 27,295 passengers a day.
MRIA had welcomed 11,801 international tourist arrivals with 102 flight operations, for a total of 23,739 passenger movements recorded at MRIA in 2024.
The JIA had facilitated 3,413 international passenger movements and 271 domestic passenger movements in January 2024.
Considering the latest statistics, the BIA is set to achieve the average daily passenger number handled, approximately 29,800, in the most successful year, handling 10.8 million passengers in 2018.
Moreover the BIA handled 9.9 million passengers in 2019, with an average daily passenger movement of approximately 27,280 passengers.
In response to the growing number of passengers, AASL is in the process of expanding and upgrading the infrastructural capacity at the BIA as a short and medium term solution.