The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, under Standing Order 27(2), I raise the following regarding the current status of Sri Lanka’s aviation sector, embarkation taxes, and airport infrastructure development, considering increasing tourism, trade links and international travel.

¶ 02 Questions to the Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation:

¶ 03 1. How many international airlines currently operate scheduled passenger services to Sri Lanka, and what is their approved annual passenger-carrying capacity through Sri Lanka’s airports? Please provide details.

¶ 04 2. What is the embarkation tax currently levied per departing passenger? Is it included in the air ticket price? Who collects it, and within how many days must it be paid to the Government? Is it applicable to outbound passengers from Sri Lanka?

¶ 05 3. What were the total departures and arrivals through Sri Lankan airports in 2023, 2024 and 2025, by airport?

¶ 06 4. Based on (3), what was the total embarkation levy due to Government in each of those years?

¶ 07 5. What is the outstanding total embarkation levy currently due from airlines, and which airlines are in arrears? Please provide the latest amounts due by airline, losses due to delay, and actions taken.

¶ 08 6. How many international and domestic airports currently operate in Sri Lanka? What are the maximum annual passenger handling capacities of each, and what other domestic airports exist?

¶ 09 7. What are the current annual handling capacities and utilization rates of each airport? Are they operating above or below design capacity?

¶ 10 8. What airport development projects are planned or underway—Terminal 2, regional airport upgrades, apron projects, runway upgrades? What are the tourism growth constraints?

¶ 11 9. Upon completion, what will be the incremental annual passenger handling capacity?