Empty airport for sale

And in Sri Lanka, its not just about the carrier – the airport has its own unique challenges as well. In this case is the country’s second international airport – the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA). Opened in March 2013, it is nearly the world’s emptiest airport – next to the Spanish ghost airport of Ciudad Real Central, North Korea’s Pyongyang Sunan International or Berlin Brandenburg Airport – with only two flights per day. Another financial problem for the government, the airport is simply not generating enough revenue to pay back the US$190 million of loans that were provided by the Exim Bank of China to build it. The government announced at the end of June that it is looking for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from investors who would like to take over commercial operations. According to local media reports, “arrangements are being worked out” for IZP, a Chinese informational technology company, to pick up the struggling airport to add to its growing portfolio of Silk Road investments.

The logic behind the second airport was based on the fact that for a number of years, demand was very strong to add additional international aviation capacity. Air traffic through Colombo was getting congested and the country either had to add an additional runway at the existing airport, or build or expand another airport elsewhere. At a cost of $209 million – most of which coming from China – Sri Lanka chose the latter option, building Mattala International far out in southern Hambantota district, nearly 250 kilometres from Colombo. Th is airport started out as a key part of an ambitious plan by Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to transform his extremely rural hometown region into Sri Lanka’s number two metropolis. But in the absence of commercial logic and market demand the plan predictably failed, leaving one very expensive and empty airport. With the change of government in 2015 SriLankan Airlines was allowed to liquidate its loss-making hub at Mattala. But there may be hope yet for the airport as two wildlife parks in the vicinity are drawing more and more tourists. And along with being the aviation anchor of the broader Hambantota economic zone – which is still in the process of development – the airport is also part of a bonded and free trade zone, which facilitates easier import/export operations, as well as providing tax and other economic incentives.