Sri Lanka’s government has issued a fresh call for expressions of interest in Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport after a previously announced 30-year lease agreement with an Indo-Russian joint venture failed to materialise, Free Malaysia Today reported on April 26.
The airport, built with Chinese loans near a wildlife sanctuary on the island’s southern coast, has operated without regular scheduled flights since opening in 2013, and has consistently failed to generate enough revenue to cover its electricity bills. Penguin Travel
In its call for expressions of interest, the government described the facility as offering “untapped potential for growth opportunities for exotic tourism development and strategic investment.”
Two years ago, the Sri Lankan government announced a 30-year lease award to a joint venture between India’s Shaurya Aeronautics and Russia’s Airports of Regions Management Company, but the arrangement never progressed beyond the announcement stage. Only four companies had expressed interest in managing the airport at that time.
Several cargo carriers and charter aircraft continue to use Mattala, but revenue from these operations falls short of covering basic upkeep costs. The airport has also faced operational disruptions linked to its proximity to a wildlife corridor, with aircraft strikes involving migratory birds recorded on multiple occasions and military personnel deployed at points to clear deer, wild buffalo and elephants from the runway.
The airport is named after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure projects that subsequently became commercial failures. Debts to China are partly blamed for the financial crisis that led Sri Lanka to default on its $46bn foreign debt in 2022. USA National Parks
In 2017, Sri Lanka allowed China Merchants Port Holdings to take over the nearby Hambantota port under a 99-year lease after it was unable to repay a large Chinese loan, a deal that generated widespread concern over the use of debt as a tool of geopolitical influence.
Authorities are positioning Mattala as a potential tourism gateway serving Sri Lanka’s southern and south-eastern attractions, including Yala National Park, Udawalawe and the coastal resorts of Mirissa, Tangalle and Arugam Bay, with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd among the bodies involved in outreach to carriers. Kenya News Agency
Since receiving an IMF bailout in 2023, Sri Lanka has sought to privatise a range of loss-making state-owned enterprises, with limited success to date