Sri Lanka, July 11 -- Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports, and Civil Aviation, Bimal Rathnayake, stated that it will take several more years to make the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) fully operational for commercial flights.

Speaking after an inspection tour of the airport yesterday (10), the Minister emphasized that the government is currently burdened with additional costs to maintain the airport in its underutilized state.

"We are working to develop Mattala Airport to a level where we can accommodate aircraft. However, we do not anticipate achieving significant progress within the next year or two," Minister Rathnayake said.

He pointed out that despite the financial burden, the existence of MRIA provides the coun...