– 4.3 million international travelers in 2024 : 26.10% increase compared to July 2023
– Construction work on the proposed second terminal of the Bandaranaike International Airport will begin soon – Chairman of Airports and Air Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt.)
Colombo Port has achieved significant improvement in operational efficiency by recording a rapid growth rate of 23.6% by 2024. Alphaliner, the leading research publication of the shipping industry, named Colombo Port as the world’s fastest growing port in the first quarter, according to the Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping and Aviation, K. D. S. Ruvanchandra said.
In addition, he pointed out that the port of Colombo has generated an income of 50 million US dollars in the first quarter of 2024, and the secretary said that the various trade union activities carried out in the past did not hinder the achievement of that progress.
Addressing a press conference held at the Presidential Media Center today (29) regarding the progress of two years, the Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Air Services K. DS Ruvanchandra mentioned this.
Ministry Secretary K. D. S. Ruwanchandra added,
The performance of Colombo Port has made significant progress. Port of Colombo has recorded an excellent growth rate of 23.6% by 2024. Accordingly, Alphaliner, the shipping industry’s leading research publication, has announced Colombo Port as the world’s best growing port for the first quarter of 2024.
We achieved this progress while various trade union activities were being carried out. But they did not hinder our work. In 2023, Sri Lanka Ports Authority has recorded a profit of US$ 100 million and in the first quarter of 2024 alone, a profit of US$ 50 million has been made.
It must be said that all four terminals have contributed to these activities. Work on improving the operational efficiency of these terminals is also underway. Accordingly, the construction of the ECT and the West Terminal is in progress and the operation of the West Terminal is scheduled to commence in February 2025. Also, development of East Terminal and North Port is also being done.
Apart from this, development works are also being carried out at the ports of Trincomalee, Galle and Kangesandurai. Also, passenger ferry service from India is used every Friday for the newly constructed terminal at Kangesandurai port for ferry service operations.
Air services have also improved by 25% compared to 2023. Here, passenger and cargo operations have increased significantly and flight arrivals have increased from 36 in 2023 to 46 by July 2024,” he said.
Atula Kalketia, Chairman, Airports and Airlines (Sri Lanka) (Pvt.),
By July 2024, 4.3 million international travel journeys will have taken place. We believe that number will rise to around 9 million by the end of the next six months. That figure represents a growth of 26.10% compared to July 2023.
Also, the number of international air traffic increased by 24.50% by June 2024 as compared to June 2023. Also the number of air cargo traffic has also increased by 28.96%.
About 10.8 million air passengers traveled through our terminal in 2018. But there are some problems in providing facilities. Therefore, several short-term and long-term measures are currently underway to improve the facilities for the 8 to 9 million passengers.
Firstly, the bid is planned to improve the departure area through the intermediate terminal.
Also, 30 more counters will be created in the departure area of the new building, and 4 electronic gates each for arrival and departure will be constructed. Immigration and emigration work will be expedited.
We hope that the construction of the proposed second terminal for the Bandaranaike International Airport will resume very soon. We are currently in discussion with JICA in this regard and they will provide the required loan facility within the next month as promised.
Meanwhile, the issue of air traffic controllers’ walkout over salary issues has been resolved with the government’s intervention. However, around 80 air traffic controllers have left the country. Therefore, the government has decided to appoint new air traffic controllers.
Currently we have recruited, trained and deployed a team of over 25 people. Applications have been called for another group,” he said.
Civil Aviation Services Authority Director General Air Vice Marshal Sagara Kotakadeniya, Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Keith D. Bernard, Director General of Trade and Maritime Affairs Ajith Wijesinghe and several officials of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Civil Services attended the press conference.
