The newly constructed ‘Emigration Hall’ at the departure passenger terminal of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake was declared open by Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga today.
According to the Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka (AASL) Under the BIA Terminal 1 expansion project, 23 new emigration counters have been added at the airport.
The expansion project was completely funded by the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited at a cost Rs. 430 million.
Full statement by AASL:
The newly constructed ‘Emigration Hall’ at the departure passenger terminal of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) was declared open on 15th July 2021 by Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga, Minister of Tourism with the participation of Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth & Sports/ State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development, Hon. D. V. Chanaka, State Minister of Aviation and Export Zones Development, Major General (Rtd) G. A. Chandrasiri, Chairman AASL, Mr. Rajiv Sooriyaarachchi, Vice Chairman-AASL and the members of the Board of Directors of Airport Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited (AASL) and other distinguished guests.
Under the BIA Terminal 1 expansion project, 23 new emigration counters have been added at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and this expansion project was completely funded by the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited at a cost Rs. 430 million. This improved and expanded design offers a new experience to our valued passengers on their happy journey through BIA.
Under this project, AASL has enhanced the operational area of terminal 1 by constructing a steel-structured floor in the double-height void area of the Departure check-in area with all finishes, Air-Conditioning system, Telephone & Data and extended checking area towards VIP with an additional 03 storied building including 2 escalators, 01 elevators, a staircase. Further, 5 additional check-in counters with an extended belt are provided to facilitate the passengers. New areas for shops and restaurants have been added with all services. In addition, new office areas for Emigration and SIS have been constructed with the full facility to uplift the services to the passengers.
As a reputed company, AASL strives hard to provide competitive, safe aviation services and a superlative guest experience with best practices and the latest technology to ensure stakeholder satisfaction on par with world-class international airports.
Accordingly, AASL is continuing the major infrastructure development projects at BIA, as it is imperative to increase the capacity of the BIA to accommodate the expected increase in the annual passenger capacity to 20 million passengers by 2025. The passenger handling capacity has been a major issue at BIA as the existing passenger terminal building has been built to handle only 6 million passengers per annum. Accordingly, now extended the number of emigration counters and equipped them with the latest technology to facilitate faster clearance procedures at BIA and it will reduce overcrowding and delays at the airport after a long flight and enable the passenger a hassle-free exit to reach their final destination. (NewsWire)
