Cabinet green-lights construction of new bulk cargo terminal at BIA

• New facility costing Rs. 3 b will be financed by AASL
• Current facility processes over 280 m MT per annum with YoY increase of 8%

By Chathuri Dissanayake 

The Government this week gave approval to construct a new cargo terminal worth Rs. 3 billion in the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to accommodate the growing demand for the facility.

The new facility will be constructed over a two-year period utilising funds from the Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka (AASL), Chairman Dammika Ranatunga told Daily FT. 

The terminal will be able to handle 150 million metric tonnes per year after the facility is completed.

The budgetary allocations have already taken place, and the expenses are spread over a time period as the project will be done in stages, Ranatunga said, but was not able to elaborate further.

Presenting the Cabinet paper, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga told the Cabinet that over 280 million metric tonnes of cargo was processed through the BIA in 2018. Cargo handling operations at the airport have grown by an annual increase of 8% year-on-year, the Information Department statement on Cabinet decisions noted.

However, capacity restraints in the BIA facility is currently causing severe traffic congestion in the Cargo Zone, the statement said.

Therefore, the Cabinet has given approval to proceed with procurement activities for the construction of an Additional Cargo Terminal at the BIA.

Last year the AASL also decided to construct an interim terminal building at BIA dedicated to departure passengers with a total capacity of 2.5 million per year as per forecasts in passenger growth.

The terminal which will cost over $ 17 million will also be funded by the AASL, and the job was awarded to China State Construction Engineering Corporation, as per recommendations by the Appeals Board.