SriLankan Airlines CEO Suren Ratwatte, who yesterday announced his early retirement, has said that nobody flies to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) which he has described as a “white elephant”.
Speaking at CAPA Airline CEOs in Sydney on Tuesday (June 5), he commented on the airport, noting that “nobody flies there” and it can be best described as a “white elephant”, with the airport having a “very small” catchment area.
Mr Ratwatte also noted that the “airport currently seems to be taken over by the AAI, exactly what I don’t know”, further reiterated that it “evidently seems to be the plan” for AAI to invest in the airport, the CAPA website reported today.
He added that, in terms of some of the large China supported infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka: “Who the infrastructure was supposed to cater to, I really don’t know”.
He however said that it has an ultimate “positive impact” for Sri Lanka, who is “not paying the financial price” for recent infrastructure projects financed by international capital.
It was reported yesterday that Captain Suren Ratwatte has submitted a letter announcing early retirement.
-Agencies
