Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) is probably the clearest symbol of Rajapaksa-era excesses. It was built to be Sri Lanka’s second international airport, but became better known as one of the world’s emptiest.
Successive governments have tried to revive it. Now it is the National People’s Power (NPP) government’s turn. The government recently invited domestic and foreign investors to take over the airport under a 30-year build-operate-transfer model.
The airport at Mattala was built as part of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government’s Hambantota development plan and was not designed as a small regional facility. It was promoted as an alternative to Bandaranaike International Airport, and its first phase cost $209 million, of which $190 million was from China Exim Bank. When it was built, the Rajapaksas said the airport would have the capacity to handle a million passengers, 50,000 tons of cargo and 6,250 air traffic operations a year by 2028. However, it soon became apparent that such targets would not be met, despite the best efforts of the Rajapaksa government.
In 2013, Mattala expected more than 160,000 passengers but handled about 36,000. In 2014, it was expected to draw over 171,000 passengers, but it handled about 40,000. By June 2015, passenger movement had fallen below 5,000, after the Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government stopped artificial attempts to boost passenger numbers. Its income was about $300,000 in 2013 and about $830,000 the following year. About $13.28 million and $17.6 million went towards salary, maintenance, electricity and water in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The airport had to remain open day and night, although the business had collapsed.
