Operations of Mattala airport to be carried out as a partnership

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Ashok Abeysinghe says that an Indian Company has agreed to the estimate put forward by the Sri Lankan government regarding the Mattala International Airport. The Government has approved the Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority and an Indian Company to operate the Mattala International Airport as a partnership. The investment for the Mattala International Airport which was declared open in 2013 was US $252 million. The estimate provided for the Airport at present stands at US $325 million. 70% of that value will be invested by a Private Company in India while 30% of it will be invested by the Civil Aviation Authority. The agreement reached states that the profit will be shared as per the same ratio. Dep. Min. Transport and Civil Aviation, Ashok Abeysinghe stated that this will be put forward before the cabinet prior to the process of signing the agreement. He also stated that once the cabinet approval is received that it would be presented before the parliament and that the partnership would be continued for a period of 40 years. Currently, the airport does not provide any international flight services. The government in the past decided to store paddy at the storage facilities of the airport. The FlyDubai airlines withdrew from operating its services from the Mattala International Airport recently.