Skip to content
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota:-
- India would operate Sri Lanka’s loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota. The $210 million facility, 241km south-east of Colombo, is dubbed the “world’s emptiest airport” due to a lack of flights.
- India would operate the airport as a Sri Lanka-India joint venture. The joint venture would see India gain a major stake of the airport. The final terms of the agreement, however, remains to be worked out. Mattala airport adjoining the Hambantota seaport is to be handed over to India to please the super powers India and China.
- The Sri Lankan government in 2016 had invited proposals from interested international investors to run the airport. Only India offered to help. Mattala airport, named after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was one of the major infrastructure projects of Rajapaksa’s nearly a decade-long rule. The project was funded through high interest Chinese commercial loans. The airport, built with the capacity to handle one million passengers a year, was officially opened in March 2013.
- The only international flight operating from there was halted in May due to recurrent losses and flight safety issues. The seaport built in Hambantota, another Rajapaksa pet project, has been leased to China to set off Chinese loans as equity.
