By Madhusha Thavapalakumar
The long-delayed yet desperately needed second terminal (Terminal II) at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) has run into a new obstacle that is expected to delay the construction of the project by further two months, according to the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. (AASL).
After years of delays driven by tender-related issues, the project was finally set to launch at the end of this month and was expected to be completed by August 2023 as a measure to mitigate passenger congestion issues. However, earlier this month, the construction was postponed to early September.
Postponing the launch further, AASL Chairman Major General (Retd.) G.A. Chandrasiri told The Sunday Morning Business that the Terminal II project would certainly not commence early next month as planned due to complications in importing workers amidst Covid-19.
“We are getting workers from Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and various other countries. They are in the process of coming into Sri Lanka. We have the Covid-19 problem going. There are many procedures to adopt. Already, about eight engineers have arrived in Sri Lanka,” Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri informed.
He stated that in addition to importing workers, there are several other things that need to be completed before commencing the construction works of the second terminal.
Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri confirmed that changes have not been made to the original design of Terminal II or the earlier decision to award the tender to Taisei Corporation, a Japanese construction company. AASL signed the contract agreement with Taisei on 12 March.
Accordingly, the new terminal will be built at a cost of $ 800 million and is expected to handle a passenger capacity of nine million as initially planned, bringing BIA terminals’ total capacity to 15 million.
The new terminal building would feature the addition of 96 check-in counters, eight baggage claim belts, seven baggage makeup carousels, 16 contact boarding gates with 28 passenger boarding bridges, and six bus gates. The scope also includes a capacity enhancement of the incinerator, water treatment plant, and sewerage treatment plant.
The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) is the concessionary loan provider for the new terminal at BIA. The loan agreement of Rs. 56 billion was signed almost four years ago on 24 March 2016.
Nevertheless, according to Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri, initial discussions for a second terminal were begun under the presidency of now Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2007 and a foundation ceremony was held in 2013. The project made no progress after the change in government in 2015, he added.
The second terminal was initially scheduled to come into operation by 2020 but was deferred as the bids from the Japanese companies were far higher than the engineer’s estimate. JICA refused to budge from the original quotations submitted by two Japanese contractors, which were 46% and 96% higher than the engineer’s estimate, and was not willing to award the tender to any other company other than a Japanese company.
The Sri Lankan Government planned for an interim terminal until the bidding issues were resolved. Subsequently, bids to the $ 19 million interim terminal were announced in November 2017.
Nevertheless, as exclusively reported by The Sunday Morning Business on 1 March 2019, under the headline “Interim terminal at BIA abandoned”, the project was abandoned due to a protracted legal battle between a bidder and the procurement committee.
Following a deadlock of years, Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga, as exclusively reported by The Sunday Morning Business, had managed to negotiate with JICA and the bidder to bring the prices down, reviving the project to which the Sri Lankan Government was paying late fees since 2012.
BIA has been in dire need of another terminal for years now. It had more than 170 aircraft movements per day, including an average of more than 60 movements of heavy aircraft per day in 2018. The existing six million passenger terminal handled 10 million passengers in 2018, resulting in hours of delays, particularly as passengers were trying to collect their baggage.
According to the annual reports of AASL, the airport experienced heavy congestion in the arrival and departure zones, as well as vehicular traffic, particularly during peak hours, all the while passenger arrivals grow 5-6% Year-on-Year (YoY).
The long-delayed yet desperately needed second terminal (Terminal II) at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) has run into a new obstacle that is expected to delay the construction of the project by further two months, according to the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. (AASL).
After years of delays driven by tender-related issues, the project was finally set to launch at the end of this month and was expected to be completed by August 2023 as a measure to mitigate passenger congestion issues. However, earlier this month, the construction was postponed to early September.
Postponing the launch further, AASL Chairman Major General (Retd.) G.A. Chandrasiri told The Sunday Morning Business that the Terminal II project would certainly not commence early next month as planned due to complications in importing workers amidst Covid-19.
“We are getting workers from Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and various other countries. They are in the process of coming into Sri Lanka. We have the Covid-19 problem going. There are many procedures to adopt. Already, about eight engineers have arrived in Sri Lanka,” Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri informed.
He stated that in addition to importing workers, there are several other things that need to be completed before commencing the construction works of the second terminal.
Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri confirmed that changes have not been made to the original design of Terminal II or the earlier decision to award the tender to Taisei Corporation, a Japanese construction company. AASL signed the contract agreement with Taisei on 12 March.
Accordingly, the new terminal will be built at a cost of $ 800 million and is expected to handle a passenger capacity of nine million as initially planned, bringing BIA terminals’ total capacity to 15 million.
The new terminal building would feature the addition of 96 check-in counters, eight baggage claim belts, seven baggage makeup carousels, 16 contact boarding gates with 28 passenger boarding bridges, and six bus gates. The scope also includes a capacity enhancement of the incinerator, water treatment plant, and sewerage treatment plant.
The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) is the concessionary loan provider for the new terminal at BIA. The loan agreement of Rs. 56 billion was signed almost four years ago on 24 March 2016.
Nevertheless, according to Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri, initial discussions for a second terminal were begun under the presidency of now Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2007 and a foundation ceremony was held in 2013. The project made no progress after the change in government in 2015, he added.
The second terminal was initially scheduled to come into operation by 2020 but was deferred as the bids from the Japanese companies were far higher than the engineer’s estimate. JICA refused to budge from the original quotations submitted by two Japanese contractors, which were 46% and 96% higher than the engineer’s estimate, and was not willing to award the tender to any other company other than a Japanese company.
The Sri Lankan Government planned for an interim terminal until the bidding issues were resolved. Subsequently, bids to the $ 19 million interim terminal were announced in November 2017.
Nevertheless, as exclusively reported by The Sunday Morning Business on 1 March 2019, under the headline “Interim terminal at BIA abandoned”, the project was abandoned due to a protracted legal battle between a bidder and the procurement committee.
Following a deadlock of years, Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga, as exclusively reported by The Sunday Morning Business, had managed to negotiate with JICA and the bidder to bring the prices down, reviving the project to which the Sri Lankan Government was paying late fees since 2012.
BIA has been in dire need of another terminal for years now. It had more than 170 aircraft movements per day, including an average of more than 60 movements of heavy aircraft per day in 2018. The existing six million passenger terminal handled 10 million passengers in 2018, resulting in hours of delays, particularly as passengers were trying to collect their baggage.
According to the annual reports of AASL, the airport experienced heavy congestion in the arrival and departure zones, as well as vehicular traffic, particularly during peak hours, all the while passenger arrivals grow 5-6% Year-on-Year (YoY).