COLOMBO : he Government has unveiled a major capacity expansion plan for Terminal 1 of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), aimed at increasing its annual design capacity from six million to 10 million passengers.
This move comes amid the continuing delay in the completion of the long-awaited BIA Terminal 2 project.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku confirmed that the Government had taken a decision to expand the design capacity of the existing terminal at the BIA in order to address concerns regarding airport congestion, with the expansion process expected to cost around Rs. 15 billion.
“Terminal 1, which is the existing terminal, has a design capacity of around six million annually. We have undertaken a major expansion to increase it to 10 million, for which we will be spending around Rs. 15 billion,” he stated.
The Deputy Minister revealed that the capacity expansion plan for BIA Terminal 1 involved around four or five discrete projects, all of which would be funded entirely from local sources, with no involvement of foreign funding agencies.
Responding to queries as to the scope of the proposed work under this expansion plan, he said: “This involves expanding the departure area, increasing the number of check-in counters, completely rearranging the arrival lobby to expand the area, modification of the baggage clearance system, and expansion of the duty-free area.”
The urgency of the expansion was underscored by a striking admission from the Deputy Minister that the BIA was already handling the very passenger volumes it was now being redesigned to accommodate.
“We are already handling 10 million passengers per year. This is a problem, because the design capacity is six million,” he stated, laying bare the pressure the existing infrastructure was under.
The Deputy Minister further revealed that the groundwork for the expansion was well advanced. “For the past six months, we have been designing these projects and have cleared them. The designs have been approved and one of the projects has already been awarded. The rest are at the awarding stage,” he said.the Morning
