An Airport in Hambanthota.

On Friday (27) President Mahinda Rajapaksa laid the foundation stone for a new USD $200 million international airport in Hambantota. The government says that the airport is necessary as a second gateway to Sri Lanka and as an alternate airport for aircraft arriving at Katunayake International Airport, but some aviation professionals see the Hambantota airport as a wasteful political gimmick rather than a well-considered infrastructure project.

This is the third attempt to build a second international airport for the island. The UNP tried to build one in the Kuda Oya area, but lost power before the plans could come to fruition. Then the UPFA administration decided to expand the existing Weerawila airport, only to face stiff resistance from the environmental authority (the airport was close to a bird sanctuary) and opposition from area farmers (the airport would consume rich farm land used for paddy cultivation). Now the airport is scheduled to be constructed in Mattala, which will require clearing 2,000 hectares of natural forest cover and shrub land.

“Flying in Sri Lanka is an absolute nightmare,” said one Sri Lankan pilot, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. “It’s a huge hassle to get to the airport. All the general aviation training has been shifted to small airfields south of Colombo. These airfields are not suitable for training — they do not have adequate runway lights. With all these problems I don’t know why they’re trying to build a 200 million dollar airport. The government should improve the other airfields first.”

A designated alternate airport

According to international regulatory requirements, all airports must have a designated alternate airport in the event that a landing at the original airport is impossible due to bad weather conditions, an obstructed landing strip, or the closure of the airport. Presently, the alternate for Katunayake is Trivandrum Airport in South India, which is around 190 nautical miles and 20 minutes away. Many people do not understand that having an alternate airport close to the original destination, as in the case of Mattala, is not very practical, because the weather at the alternate airport will be similar to the original airport.

Government officials rejected these criticisms, claiming that a second international airport would be good for the aviation industry and for the Southern Province.

“The new airport is necessary for a number of reasons, said Parakrama Dissanayake, Director of Aeronautical Services for the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. “We don’t have an alternate airstrip for the country. We had an accident in 2004 when a cargo aircraft crashed near Katunayake airport. Had there been another airport the plane wouldn’t have crashed that day. The airport will also facilitate the airline industry because now all airplanes must carry enough fuel to go to an airport in India or Male. So if there’s a closer airport they won’t have to carry so much fuel.”

However, statistics and historical data show that aircraft arriving at Katunayake have diverted on very few occasions due to weather. More often, planes have diverted due to LTTE attacks, which were made possible by the failure of the Sri Lanka Air Force to provide adequate security to the airfield. The poor security resulted in airport closures, including a night curfew.