SriLankan and Mihin to begin operations via Mattala

By Sanath Weerasuriya in London

National carrier SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lankawillscheduled to commence their operation with limited number of flights via Sri Lanka`s second International Airport in Mattala from next March.

Nishantha Wickramasinghe, Chairman SriLankan Airlines officially announced the detailed plan of Mattala operations at a well-attended press conference at the World Travel Mart in London yesterday.

Wickramasinghe, who is also the Chairman for Mihin Lanka saidSriLankan Airlines  and Mihin want to be the first two airlines to operate via Mattala International Airport (MIA).

He said that they would treat Mattala as a full-fledged international airport and traffic would be diverted there.

‘However,we are not shifting entire BIA operations to Mattala. We will not compromise Colombo operations (BIA) and the passengers would have the option of embarking and disembarking at both airports’ he said.

Chairman Wickramasinghe said that the opening of Mattala would stimulate not only tourism but also other sectors such as trade and cultural developments of the Southern, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and the Eastern provinces.  ‘Senior Manager Corporate CommunicationsRanjith de Silva said that in addition to diverting their flights they would also be in charge of catering, ground handling ,cargo and are also looking at setting up an engineering facility (MRO) with an international partner.

‘We are also now looking at the possibilities of setting up an international airline training school, that will benefit the country as well as the industry’ he said.

According to the Chairman Wickramasinghe, airline would employ over 250 new people for these operations and the recruiting is in progress now.

Dubai based low-cost carrier Flydubai too has confirmed its commitment to the Sri Lankan government of flying into the upcoming Mattala airport when completed.