Sri Lanka anticipates further development
Jane's Airport Review Neelam Mathews Read full story on janes.ihs.com (subscription) Mattala Rajapaksala International Airport represents part of the island's bid to position itself as a tourism and cargo-handling destination For decades, Sri Lanka relied on a single international gateway at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport. However, this airport has reached saturation point beyond its designed capacity of 6 million passengers per year, processing 7.32 million in 2013. 1565965 The first phase of Mattala Rajapaksala International Airport went operational in 2013. (Neelam Mathews) "Sources at the airport indicate that AASL is in advanced discussions with Oman Air and held talks with AirAsia X. SriLankan CEO Kapila Chandrasena told IHS Jane's that he expects MRIA to become a hub for leisure traffic to the Maldives. The airline plans by 2015 to shift its narrowbody MRO operations from Bandaranaike International to a ne...