Sri Lanka: No more flights from second airport

Sri Lanka’s jinxed second international airport was left without a single scheduled flight from Friday after the only airline using the remote facility scrapped its daily service. Dubai’s flydubai gave no reason for the pullout from Mattala International, built by former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse and financed with Chinese loans. The airport — a five-hour, 250-kilometre drive from the capital Colombo — is located inside a wildlife sanctuary and smack in the middle of a migratory route for birds. Several aircraft have hit birds since it opened in 2013 and two years ago the military deployed hundreds of troops to clear deer, wild buffalo and elephants off the sprawling facility. The airport, which cost an initial $210m and employs some 550 workers in Rajapakse’s home district, has failed to generate enough business to pay staff, let alone make a profit. Rajapakse’s administration had offered hefty concessions and initially attracted Air Arabia — which pulled out after only a few weeks — and flydubai. Even Sri Lanka’s national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines stopped flying to Mattala in 2015 saying the move saved them $18m annually. Mattala will however remain an emergency alternate landing location for flights heading into Colombo International. <br/>