Construction work of the runway of the Sri Lanka’s second International Airport at Mattala in the Hambantota District in the South of Sri Lanka has been completed.This airport is being constructed in a rural village which was called as "the village in the wild" in many novels like 'Baddegama' The new airport is being constructed in a plot of land of 2000 hectares at a cost of US$. 209 million.
Mattala International Airport is one of the largest projects being carried out by the government.
The runway with a length of 4000 meters and a width of 75 meters has all necessary facilities to land the largest aircraft available at present such as Airbus A-380. The Taxi route to the runway is 370 meters long and 60 meters wide.
Under the first stage of the project, 10 aircrafts can be landed at this airport simultaneously.
Other facilities such as a fire service unit, cargo handling facilities, restaurants and vehicle parks are also being constructed. Construction of the 1,000 sq.meter cargo facility is also nearing completion. The air cargo facility could handle 45,000 metric tons of cargo per year.
The project which consists of two phases was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 27, 2009 in line with the Greater Hambantota City Development Programme.
After completing the first phase of the airport construction project, the first flight will land in Mattala airport by mid 2012 fulfilling a long felt need of having a second international airport for the country.
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