NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE
Director general of civil aviation outlines details of confidential report following July attack
Sri Lanka's civil aviation security regime has been cleared of problems following an audit by ICAO carried out after July's rebel attack on Colombo airport that damaged or destroyed six of SriLankan Airlines' aircraft.
The country's director general of civil aviation, Lal Liyanaarachchi, says in a letter to Flight International that ICAO forwarded a confidential report on Sri Lanka's civil aviation security situation to the government early in September.
He quotes ICAO's secretary general as writing in the 4 September letter: "After comparing Annex 17 Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) with the current aviation security posture in the State of Sri Lanka and the security measures implemented at [Colombo's] Bandaranaike International Airport, the ICAO team of aviation security specialists found the SARPs to be at a satisfactory level overall."
Liyanaarachchi also quotes the letter as saying ICAO is satisfied proper action was taken after the attack to "rectify the security vulnerabilities which permitted such an unprecedented act of unlawful interference against civil aviation".
Sri Lanka and its national carrier have suffered since the 24 July attack by Tamil Tigers separatists from a decline in air travel to and through the country's only international airport at Colombo.
SriLankan Airlines, 40%-owned by Emirates, is seeking newmarkets to operate to and through in the wake of the attack, such as launching new services between the tourist islands nation of the Maldives and points in Europeand Asia.
The carrier had four of its 12 Airbus aircraft destroyed in the attack and two others damaged.
The Sri Lankan government is meanwhile offering new incentives in a bid to lure operators to the country, such as waiving all landing charges at Colombo airport until further notice. It had previously waived charges for cargo and passenger aircraft carrying more than 150 passengers.
Liyanaarachchi says the government is in particular focusing on boosting cargo services through Sri Lanka. He says freight carrier Aerocom of Moldova has been given seventh freedom traffic rights to operate between Colombo and Singapore.
Source: Flight International
