Inland airports to be modernised - minister

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

The government has taken step to modernize several inland airports in line with inland air transportation sector development activities, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said.

Under this initiative, the abandoned Palaviya inland airport in Puttalam will be renovated, the minister said.

The 1,000 metre long runaway, which is at a poor condition will be lengthened and widened to light and small scale planes.

“The runaway will be lengthened to 1,500 metres and widened by a few metres. The Palaviya airport will be a boost for the tourism sector since tourists can easily reach Kalpitiya, Vilpattuwa, and other locations,” the minister said.

The minister advised Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary Dr Ranjith Ruberu to commence construction work immediately using the 2012 budgetary allocations for inland airport development projects.

The secretary was further advised to appointed a committee to calculate necessary allocation for the Palaviya project.

In addition to the contribution for inland tourism, the airport can be used as a pilot training centre using light and small pilot training planes, the minister added.

The Palaviya inland airport was used in the past, but, with the collapse of inland air transportation, the airport was abandoned. It has been reported that the airport was used during the Second World War with around 200 planes using the airport. Even today the wreckages of planes and aviation equipment used during the Second World War can be seen at the airport.