Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) (IATA: HRI, ICAO: VCRI) is an international airport serving southeast Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa International Airport (also known as the Hambantota International Airport (HIA), Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) is an international airport serving the city of Hambantota in southeast Sri Lanka. Upon completion, Mattala International Airport will be Sri Lanka’s second international airport, after Bandaranayake International Airport (BIA) and the Ratmalana Airport is a domestic airport of Colombo.
It will also serve as the secondary hubs for Sri Lankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka. It was initially planned to build an international airport serving the south of Sri Lanka at Weerawila, but the plans were scrapped due to environmental concerns. The site was then moved to Mattala, a small town 15 km north of Hambantota. Construction on the $209 million first phase of the airport began in November 2009; it will be opened on 18 March 2013. The new international airport is expected to expand the local aviation industry whilst being a catalyst for the country’s economic development enabling international trade, tourism, vocational training and employment. It is being implemented as an eco-friendly project. The airport is estimated to cost US $210 million and, by the end of construction, will cover 2,000 hectares. It is being built to be compatible with the latest Airbus A380 aircraft and has been designed according to recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The airport is designed to facilitate for over 800 foreign passengers at peak hours and several local passengers per every 1000 km² inside the buildings. It will be made to support air-sea cargo transshipment in conjunction with the nearby Hambantota Port, which is about 15 miles away, and would act as an alternative to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) from the date of its completion in 2011. The Chinese government is providing financial assistance for the project.
The airport is being constructed by the China Harbour Engineering Company. Upon completion, the airport will be operated by Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. The runway, apron and taxiways were fully constructed by the end of February 2012. Inaugural test flight landed in the airport at 12.38 p.m. on 16 October 2012.
The first plane was a Hawker Beechcraft B200 registered as AP-CAB in Pakistan. It was an instrument testing aircraft fitted with ATC testing equipments. The test flights continued for 8 days for testing the ILS and other flight controls fixed in the new airport. The second plane to land at Mattala was a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A330-200, landed on 29th