(MENAFN- NewsIn.Asia) Colombo, Sept 4 (newsin.asia) - Sri Lanka's Tourism Minister, John Amaratunga on Monday said he had requested the government to develop the Ratmalana Airport, in Colombo, to cater to international flights.
Ratmalana Airport currently caters to domestic flights.
Amaratunga said that with an increasing number of tourist arrivals expected in the island country, the country's Bandaranaike International Airport, located in the outskirts of the capital would not be able to cope with the rising arrivals.
"Until the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) is expanded and developed we will have to come up with an alternate plan to ensure that we can handle the extra arrivals comfortably," the Daily Mirror reported, quoting Amaratunga.
"We can easily land small aircrafts at the Ratmalana Airport and for this to happen it would have to be developed. An aircraft with around 100 passengers on board, originating from nearby countries can land at the airport in Ratmalana,' he added.
More than 1.2 million foreign tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka so far this year, with India and China becoming one of the largest source markets for Sri Lanka tourism.
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