2017 Jan 16
by Aazam Ameen
In November of 2016, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka announced that they would be partially closing our main gateway to the rest of the world in 2017; Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport. This initiative was taken in order to conduct repairs and maintenance work on the airport’s only runway. Alas, that time has come. So what would this closure mean for us average Joes? To answer that, here are six things you should know about BIA’S closure.
It will only be temporary.
The airport will be closed for a three month period from January through till April. Airport operations will be halted from 8.30 AM to 4.30 PM on a daily basis for this three month period. These dates as well the times for the closure have been decided by the CAA with prior consent and consultation from Airline operators as well stakeholders. Resurfacing of the runway will be done for four hours daily in segments; the other four hours are required for the surface to harden. Considering that this is our main airport, expect that normal operations will resume when mentioned without delays.
It is for your own safety.
The existing runway was constructed way back in 1986 and was guaranteed that it would be safe to use for 20 years or 20,000 takeoffs and landings; whichever came first. Since it was constructed it has not been resurfaced. According to a report published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) the scheduled date for the first renovation was in 1996. After numerous reminders from the ICAO action has finally been taken. Over 177 flights operate in and out of BIA and that is a lot of lives at stake considering the state of our ageing runway. So the trade off with the temporary inconvenience is worthwhile.
A lot of thought was put into this.
This decision was actually a year’s worth of planning and it was not one that was suddenly decided on the fly. Many airlines, including our national carrier were all informed about this prior so that they could take the necessary measures to adjust their flight schedules in order to get the right time slots best suited for them. Airports and airlines work according to time, every second lost is money lost. Therefore, many efforts were made in order to minimize financial loss to all airlines operators at BIA.
If you are flying out of BIA, get there early.
During day time hours, 60 odd aircraft movements take place. Having to cram all these day time flights into the night along with existing nightly operations will no doubt be quite a squeeze. As a result, expect long lines at Security, Check in, and Immigration. To cope with the increased passenger numbers, the airport has requested that passengers show up at least five hours prior to their flight time.
Ensure all your devices are charged
In addition to being there early, ensure you charge up all your devices to keep yourself entertained for the waiting is going to take a toll especially for those of us who do not have a lot of patience, and so you can contact your family or a receiving party on the off chance that your flight gets either delayed or cancelled. Although the respective authorities will ensure that this does not happen, with so many aircraft movement happening within this window of time the possibility is very real. In addition to that, if you are a business traveler your smartphone will enable you to make productive use of your time.
This will have an effect on the nation as well as the people.
The estimated cost of this project is said to be around 40 million USD, so it may be expected that certain taxes may rise in order to compensate for the cost but it could be said that you will see your tax money at work. In terms of the nation as whole, this is only a small part of the entire BIA expansion that is being planned. This expansion is being done in order to cater to the expected increase in tourist arrivals. Currently BIA operates at a capacity to facilitate 7.8 million passenger movements a year but this is said to grow 15 million. All this translates to more tourists returning home with sun kissed tans and stories from a distant paradise that we all call home.
