Sri Lanka is poised to receive revenue from the China-built Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport after three years, following the handover of its operations to a consortium of Indian and Russian companies. This move is part of a strategic 30-year contract, marking a significant shift in the management of the airport.
Under this agreement, Sri Lanka will retain control over the main units related to national security, while the operational responsibilities will be managed by India’s Shaurya Aeronautics Pvt Ltd and Russia’s Airports of Regions Management Company. The handover comes despite US sanctions on the major shareholder of the Russian company involved.
Atula Kalgatiya, Chairman of the government-owned Airport & Aviation Services Sri Lanka Private Ltd, announced that the airport is ready for the transition, pending resolution of some technical issues. He emphasized that the Indian-Russian consortium will bear all operational expenses for the first three years, during which the Sri Lankan government will not charge any fees.
This consortium is tasked with developing the airport to serve 400,000 passengers annually by the fourth year. “After three years, we will get a share of the revenue, as mentioned in the proposal. They are going to handle the airport for 30 years,” Kalgatiya stated.
The Mattala airport, once dubbed the ’emptiest airport in the world’ due to its lack of flights, has been a financial burden since its inception in 2013. Built with Chinese funding of $209 million during former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa’s term, the airport has incurred annual losses of 3 billion rupees (US$10 million).
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the airport primarily served Russian and Ukrainian tourists. Previous discussions to hand over operations to India aimed at boosting Indian tourism to Sri Lanka were unsuccessful.
