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Airport reopens on Saturday

25 Dec 2020

Commercial flights to arrive from 27 December

  The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. (AASL) are all set to reopen both the international airports tomorrow (26) after receiving the necessary clearances from the health authorities, it is learnt. The past week saw several discussions taking place between stakeholders where they sought advice from the Ministry of Health to reopen the facilities to receive passengers in addition to the already arriving repatriated Sri Lankans. When The Morning contacted the CAA for comment, we were asked to get in touch with AASL Chairman Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri since they were in charge of ground handling operations once the airports reopened. Commenting on the preparations, Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri said: “All necessary measures are in place and we have been given the necessary clearance by the health services authorities to launch this pilot programme in strategically reopening the international airports in Katunayake (Bandaranaike International Airport) and Mattala (Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport) for commercial operations.”   Chandrasiri noted that commercial flights are expected to arrive on 27 and 28 December along with the repatriation flights that are scheduled to reach Sri Lanka. When asked about the number of commercial flights that will arrive during the pilot programme, Chandrasiri stated that the decisions on controlling the number of flights are at the discretion of the CAA. “Since this is a trial period that we are observing, we will continuously review the arrivals procedure, in consultation with all the stakeholders and the Ministry of Health. Based on the progress, the number of flights will be gradually increased,” he concluded.  


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