Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited (AASL) initiates ground handling services at airports for the first time in history. Accordingly, AASL operates ground handling services of the Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana (CIAR) from today (25).

Aruna Rajapaksha, Manager of CIAR stated that the first ground handling service was carried out for a commercial aircraft that arrived from the Maldives at 11.45 a.m. this morning. Earlier, Sri Lankan Airlines operated the ground handling services at CIAR. Even if, the AASL has been delegated the power for this purpose by the Act, it has not been carried out. AASL decided to carry out ground handling services at CIAR with the guidance of Hon. Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranathunga, and Hon. State Minister of Aviation and Export Zone Development, D.V. Chanaka.

Scheduled international flights at CIAR will commence next Sunday and AASL will carry out ground handling services for those flights. These scheduled flights are operated between Colombo and Maldives. International flight operations at Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana (CIAR) resumed after a break of 55 years.