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Sunday October 1st, 2023

Sri Lanka to draw executive jets, private planes to Ratmalana

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is planning to draw private aircraft to Ratmalan Airport, fast tracking approvals also allowing high end tourists to reach the capital quickly once Coronavirus controls are relaxed, officials said.

Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson of Sri Lanka Tourism Board said private jets bring tourists to high end destinations like the Maldives.

“Private jet is a good cue for us, I have already spoken with Civil Aviation and they are totally supportive,” Fernando told an online forum organized by Advocata Institute a Colombo-based think tank.

“So private jets will fly into Ratmalana Airport, it will be the fastest turnaround, you’ll be in your car by 15 minutes, probably.”

At the moment it takes about 48 hours for private jets to get approvals while in UK it takes less. Sri Lanka is working towards an 8-hour approval system for private jets, she said.

“So, these are the things we need to look as an industry where we look at particular segments.”

While premium tourists may be useful, low-end tourists bring big benefits in raising income of the people directly, the experience of East Asian nations like Vietnam had shown.

Revenues from high end tourists have to go to pay for billions spent on hotels.

“Ratmalana is predominately used now as a corporate jet airport,” Shehan Sumanasekera, Sri Lanka Airport, and Aviation Operations Director told EconomyNext earlier this year.

He said about fifteen jets roughly arrived at the airport before the COVID crisis.

“The main reason for them to use the airport is for access to Colombo, it is just 14 kilometers as opposed to BIA being about 35 kilometers plus the processing time.”

The civil aviation had planned on upgrading the airport to better suit its consumers.

“At Ratmalana, basically there will be new terminal coming up to better suit corporate jets,” Sumanasekear said.

“Right now the current terminal doesn’t have the facilities to process these aircraft, however, we do it. But we are looking at uplifting the facilities there.”

Ratmalana will also get a better Air Traffic Control system.

He said that they have not drawn up the BOQ’s since they just got (March) the board papers. (Colombo/Apr22/2020-sb)

Comments (2)

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  1. Ralph says:

    If this is going to work flight plans need to be approved
    Within 2 hrs
    Uk has lots of traffic so they take longer
    Also the whole operation needs to be given to the private sector to efficiently handle logistics

  2. Ushan Edirisinghe says:

    Good work…. We need more and more upmarket visitors, but target of arrivals in number should not be 5 mn etc…because the majority is budget visitors and as SL cant afford them anymore. However, airports may be preferred by the jetliners. I heard several privet jets were rejected by SL last week due to PCR test issues in spite of them being their stay in SL for a few hours. This is a loss as well. Thank you

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Comments (2)

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Ralph says:

    If this is going to work flight plans need to be approved
    Within 2 hrs
    Uk has lots of traffic so they take longer
    Also the whole operation needs to be given to the private sector to efficiently handle logistics

  2. Ushan Edirisinghe says:

    Good work…. We need more and more upmarket visitors, but target of arrivals in number should not be 5 mn etc…because the majority is budget visitors and as SL cant afford them anymore. However, airports may be preferred by the jetliners. I heard several privet jets were rejected by SL last week due to PCR test issues in spite of them being their stay in SL for a few hours. This is a loss as well. Thank you

Sri Lanka National Christian Council opposes Online Safety Bill

ECONOMYNEXT – The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) in a statement on the Online Safety Bill, said that the existing legal regime is adequate to deal with instances of harmful speech, making it unjustifiable to enact such “stringent laws”.

The Council called upon the government to withdraw the bill immediately.

The body expressed “deep concern” over the proposed bill, detailing its potential to curtail freedom of speech and how, according to the Council, the piece of legislature is inconsistent with the principles of democracy.

“The bill proposes the establishment of an entity named the Online Safety Commission without provisions to guarantee its independence and impartiality,” the statement said.

Chapter 3 imposes restrictions on online communication of certain statements, many of which are vague and overbroad, leaving room for executive control and the curtailing of legitimate criticism and dissent that are basic features of democracy, the statement said.

“The laws granting wide discretion to the executive and its investigative agencies with expansive reach have been misused in the past.”

The Council said that the bill was not drafted with the process of public consultation and discussion, which might have ensured the bill would be less draconian in nature.

“The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka calls upon the government to withdraw this anti-human rights and anti-democratic bill immediately.” (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

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Sri Lanka to implement new vehicle revenue licence issuing system

ECONOMYNEXT – A new system of issuing vehicle licences called eRL 2.0 is to be implemented in 5 provinces, excluding the Western Province, from 3 October onwards.

The new system is to be implemented beginning in the North West, South, North Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces, respectively. The existing vehicle licence issuing system eRL 1.0 will continue to be used in the Western Province.

The issuing of revenue licences islandwide at Department of Motor Traffic head offices and regional branches will be temporarily halted on October 2.

The facility of obtaining vehicle permits online will also be temporarily halted on 6 October till midnight.

The Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and the Provincial Motor Traffic Departments are working to modernize the current vehicle revenue license issuance system.

The implementation of the new eRL 2.0 system is expected to be an important step in the digitalisation of Sri Lanka. (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

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Sri Lankan Airlines flights cancelled as aircraft grounded

ECONOMYNEXT – State-run SriLankan Airlines has apologized to passengers who were stranded as multiple aircraft were grounded at the same time.

The airline said it has strict procedures which requires aircraft to be grounded when technical issues are discovered.

“Unfortunately, in this case we suffered a number of groundings at the same time,” the airline said.

“We apologize for the disruption and inconvenience caused and assure all our loyal customers that we are working diligently to minimize such occurrences moving forward.”

The airline said it was booking passengers on other airlines while some have been accommodated at hotels. (Colombo/Sept30/2023)

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