BIA to handle more than 10 million passengers this year

Approximately 10 million passengers would use Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by the end of this year, the President’s Media Division (PMD) announced on Wednesday (20), quoting the Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd., Athula Galkatiya.

He said from January 1 to March 19, 2024, 850,000 air passengers had used BIA services.

Galkatiya said that the total number of passengers that used the BIA in 2022 was five million, and it had increased to around eight million in 2023.

He added that the arrival of foreign tourists had risen owing to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s economic policies and the peaceful environment within the country.

According to official data, in 2018, about 11 million passengers used the BIA.