Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd (AASL) has been appointed as the Service Provider to operate and maintain the Palali Airport and other aeronautical services under the Civil Aviation Act, No.14 of 2010, after development of the airport.
Cabinet of Ministers has given its approval to utilize the Northern part of the Palali runway for handling civil aviation.
For this purpose, funds of Rs. 1,050 million will be secured from Tourism Development Fund, while Rs. 900 million will be taken from the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka.
This new development is expected to enhance the capacity of AASL and thereby increasing its revenue generation.
The Statement of Corporate Intent was signed with the AASL and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) as the facilitator to the SCI closely monitors the performance of AASL in line with the targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set out in the SCI.
Although the passenger handling Capacity of BIA is around 6 million, that limit normally gets exceeded, paving the way to reducing the service quality and abnormal delay in the process.
However, it is expected to increase passenger handling capacity to 15 million by 2020 once the BIA 2nd phase expansion project is completed.
In an attempt to reduce costs and increase revenue by preventing malpractices, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd (AASL) is now outsourcing some of the fixed assets at the Bandaranaike international Airport (BIA), atop official said.
The aim is to open up the airport service provision to the private sector while retaining responsibly for policy, regulation and overall supervision with the government, he pointed out.
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The Standing Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC) on behalf AASL has called for bids recently to outsource three car parks belonging to the airport due to losses incurred by the state owned entity owing to malpractices, he said stressing that the term of the contract will be three years.
SCAPC has also invited proposals recently from prospective investors to establish and operate an airport hotel (minimum 2-star category) in Katunayake.
A 3-acre block of land will be leased out to the successful investor for a 40- year lease period renewable for a further period depending on the performance of the project and subject to new terms and conditions.
Previously, the fuel filling station belonging to the BIA at Katunayake was handed over to Abans (Pvt) Ltd, he said
(LI)