CIAL eyeing consultancy work for Sri Lanka airport

KOCHI: The plans of Cochin International Airport (CIAL) to become an international consultant for cost-effective airports have moved a step further.

A high-level delegation from CIAL is visiting Sri Lanka on the invitation of its president, Mahindra Rajapakse, to discuss the possibility of setting up a new airport in southern part of the island nation.

The delegation, headed by its managing director S Bharath, will hold discussions with the Sri Lankan president, the minister for ports and aviation, and other senior officials of the nation’s government in this regard. Rajapakse had visited Kerala in December 2005 and saw the facilities at Cochin international airport.

He had also invited a delegation from CIAL to discuss the possibility of setting up a new airport in Sri Lanka on the lines of the Indian entity. Later, the matter was routed through the prime minister’s office.

In September 2007, Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to the president of Sri Lanka, held discussions on the project with the managing director of CIAL.