Some 70 years after plans were first muted for a second international airport to boost support air services on the island state of Sri Lanka, the new Hambantota Airport is set to become a reality when it open for business in the late 2012.

Boasting a 20,000sqm passenger terminal, 10 gates, a 35m high control tower and a 3,500m runway, Hambantota is designed to handle up to 1 million passengers and 6250 aircraft operations per year, allowing it to help ease some of the capacity pressures facing Colombo’s congested Bandaranaike Airport.

But Hambantota is more than just a reliever airport; the gateway is an integral part of the Greater Hambantota City Development, a mega infrastructure programme that will see a seaport, airport, an oil refinery, hotels and road and rail networks constructed to help encourage tourism and economic growth in the underdeveloped southern coastal region.

With this in mind, Hambantota is being designed as both a gateway for tourists and as a commercial destination in its own right, with businesses actively encouraged to set up offices around the airport and its outskirts.

“The government of Sri Lanka has identified this region as a priority to enhance the living conditions of the inhabitants,” says G Withanage, head of civil engineering planning and the design division at Hambantota Airport.

“The airport is being designed to attract several different segments of the aviation business. There is more focus on cargo and aviation-related industries, such as MRO facilities, aviation training facilities and the facility will benefit from the booming hospitality industry,” he adds.

Construction of the airport began in November 2009 on some 400 hectares of Greenfield land 15 kilometres north of the town of Hambantota, but a total of 2,000 hectares has been set aside for the project as a whole with the rest being developed into landscaped lakes and gardens or awaiting future ‘aerotropolis’ real estate developments.

“The airport is well situated with several potential demand centres nearby. For example ,the new Hambantota seaport is just 18km away, the agricultural base of Embilipitiya 15kms to the north, while the Ampara industrial region is also at a reasonable distance,” comments Withanage.

Hambantota’s terminal will be equipped with 12 check in desks, a series of departure control desks covering an area of 230sqm, a 500sqm holding room, a 370sqm arrivals and immigration area and a 900sqm baggage reclaim and customs space.

With economic development accelerating in the region, it is forecast that Hambantota will handle some 500,000 passengers by 2028, while a 1,000sqm cargo facility is expected to handle 45,000 tonnes of freight per year.

A $200 million loan from the Chinese government has provided the bulk of the funding for the construction of the Hambantota Airport, with the rest coming from the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), and national aviation authority, Airport and Aviation Services Limited (AASL), which will manage the airport once it is completed.

With recent troubles now over the island nation looking to the future, and the new Hambantota International Airport will not only provide a much needed boost to economic development in the South but also a state-of-the-art facility that the country can be proud of.