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Ratmalana International Airport, in the emperor’s new clothes

12 Apr 2022

BY Captain Elmo Jayawardena A few days ago, I read in the papers that Sri Lanka opened another airport, the Colombo International Airport Ratmalana (CIAR), on 27 March. There was a photograph too – the arrival of the first plane, a Maldivian Airline Dash-8, twin turboprop 50 seater that flew from the Velana International Airport in Hulhule, North Male Atoll, to Ratmalana.  The aeroplane was welcomed with arches of water-cannon salutes created by the fire engines of the airport fire brigade. There were Kandyan dancers in attendance too, plus a contingent of very, very important persons to celebrate the opulent opening of the new international airport. Of course, the day’s fanfare cost millions, which is what the newspapers said.   The Ratmalana Airport has a remarkable history. It began its life as a cleared grass patch of 600 square feet, which had galvanised roofing sheds on the side, which was the terminal. This was in 1935, when the first plane, a Puss Moth flown by Royal Naval Air Service Force Flight Lieutenant (Flt/Lt) Harold L’Estrange Tyndale-Biscoe landed on levelled grass, making it a soft-opening for the new airport. There was no marked runway, only a black-and-white striped windsock that stood like a sentinel to tell the pilot which direction to land or take off.  The official opening of the Airport was on 28 February 1938, when a Tata Airways mail plane, a Waco, took off from Ratmalana. In between Tyndale-Biscoe’s Puss Moth and the Tata Airways mail plane, there were people learning to fly on the Ratmalana grass patch, which included expatriates as well as locals. They were the aviators of the Ratmalana Flying Club. Then came the Royal Air Force, followed by commercial planes, and Ratmalana saw its glory days. Prominent airlines such as Trans World Airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation, and Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij landed and took off from Ratmalana. They flew their Lockheed Constellations, de Havilland Comets and Douglas DC-4 Skymasters using Ratmalana as a pit stop to operate their long haul flights. Then, in 1948, the National Carrier, Air Ceylon took over Ratmalana as its operating base. I have seen Ratmalana from the first day I flew a little airplane as a fledgling pilot. I learnt to fly there, taking off and landing on the grass strip. I did my first commercial flight on a DC-3 from Ratmalana and trained a host of student pilots at Ratmalana.  Yes, I have fond memories and cherished moments of flying aeroplanes from this wonderful old airstrip that laid the foundation for my flying career. Remembrance swells with admiration, not just for me, but for all those who had some connection with this ancient hallmark aerodrome.   So, what are they doing to Ratmalana? Bad enough that we have the magnificent mistake in Mattala. Do we need another fiasco of spending to add to our country’s financial woes? Mattala is known as the emptiest airport in the world. Are we making attempts to take the runner-up prize too with Ratmalana? Ratmalana can definitely prove to be a very good airport to cater to internal flights. It is good to operate Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) planes too, which fly to all the airfields in Sri Lanka. Ratmalana had its day and faithfully served Sri Lanka and now needs to give way to Katunayake and Mattala to handle international arrivals and departures.  The RML has only a 1,400-metre runway, which cannot take even the smallest of passenger jets, a Boeing 737 or an Airbus 320. How are we to fly international, or for that matter, even regional, flights from such a short runway? Extending the length is not financially viable, as you either have to send the Galle Road underground, or go towards the Diyawanna Oya on the other side. Yes, maybe it can handle a business jet, but one must remember that a business jet does not bring loads of passengers. They are used by the rich and the famous, and to have 50 passengers in the Airport terminal, one would need at least 10 business jets. That brings in a parking problem. Somebody sure did not count his marbles when he decided to play this game. Yes, I saw the paved great approach road to the new-look RML, almost like the four-lane highway we have in Mattala. Ratmalana too would be another “all hat and no cattle” story. Someone whispered that it cost Rs. 200 million to construct the road and re-furbish the terminal.  Maybe, whoever was in charge should have taken that money and done something to improve the navigational facilities of the Ratmalana runway. That is an uncompromisable safety factor that has been totally ignored.  On 27 March 2022, when the first international flight came in to land, there were no landing aids functioning except for a set of Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI) lights on the northeast side of runway 22, and nothing on runway four. The PAPI lights will help a pilot to adjust his final approach path, but it does not assist him/her in any way to make an instrument “let down” to locate the runway in bad weather.  Let us take a look at that business of landing aids. In 2014, on 11 December, a SLAF Antonov aeroplane flew from Katunayake to Ratmalana in the morning. The visibility was marginal with mist and low cloud, and the aeroplane, on the approach phase, hit the ground, 10 miles before the runway threshold, and crashed. Of course, the voices that had power blamed the pilots. No one mentioned that the Ratmalana Airport at that time had no landing aids at all. No instrument landing system, no very high frequency omnidirectional range/distance-measuring equipment, and the non-directional beacon was unserviceable. The crash was said to be a pilot error. But I do not think that it was the correct conclusion. Pilot error may not be the pilot’s error.  There is a mile-long difference between pilot error and the pilot’s error (sorry, I have no space to explain). Squadron Leader Abeywardena and Flt/Lt Jayatunge plus three others died in vain, simply because there were no landing aids at Ratmalana on that fateful December day. If there was at least one good operable landing aid, that unfortunate accident could have been avoided. And today in 2022, we have the same runway rated as an International Airport.  Can you believe that the same landing aids that were not there in 2014 are still not there in 2022? I am not whistling Dixie here. I checked the Notice to Airmen or Notice to Air Missions for Ratmalana on 27 March, 2022. No landing aids for the runway. That sure is tempting providence. Pity, when they were thinking of upgrading Ratmalana to an International Airport, they completely forgot why the SLAF Antonov went down in Hokandara. Who makes these colossal mistakes of opening new International Airports without evaluating safety or seeking and confirming marketability? Only the Diyawanna Oya would do that. And the Yahapalanaya (good governance) United National Front-led Government too are totally guilty of the same mortal sin though they do wash their Pontius’ hands, claiming that they are lily white.  Let us not forget that it is the Yahapalana brethren who opened the Jaffna International Airport with a 1,400-metre runway and brought Alliance Air ATR 72-600 twin-turboprop aircrafts, which were to operate a daily Chennai-Jaffna-Chennai service. What happened to those promised flights is the same thing that happened to the hoards that were to come to Mattala. As for Ratmalana, the Maldivian operator has already executed the first flight with a flamboyant arrival ceremony that cost a few millions. Then they took a U-turn and cancelled the next flights for the lack of passengers. No doubt, there would have been some brilliant planning and marketing done to achieve a fascinating result like that. Let us be realistic, Diyawanna Oya. We, along with the whole world, got bashed by Covid-19. As we started raising our heads, we had the wicked US dollar pandemic. Today, the people of our beautiful paradise are suffering multiple calamities with not even a mirage in sight. And we open an International Airport that at best will only have a propeller plane arriving from Male. That too, only if they can find passengers. Of course, business jets would be fighting to come – That is the hope? If wishes were horses, beggars would ride! We have Katunayake, Mattala, Jaffna, and now Ratmalana designated as International Airports. Do not do the same to Batticaloa too. Leave that to the next lot who will win at the Diyawanna Oya musical chairs and get their seats to serve the nation. Let them open the Batticaloa International Airport. They too might want to get some coins to jingle in their pockets. As for aviation answers, let me be serious. We are definitely coming to the capacity limits of air traffic in Katunayake. Maybe we have already exceeded that, and are operating on borrowed time and pleaded tolerances. We need a 2,500-metre second parallel runway in Katunayake. That length is adequate for smaller passenger jets such as A320s and Boeing 737s.  If a twin runway concept can be achieved, the authorities can use Katunayake as an international hub, handling all the international flights (including business jets) that will arrive in Sri Lanka. Then, we can use our so called international airports, Ratmalana and Jaffna, plus all the small local airfields such as Ampara, Batticaloa, China Bay, Weerawila, Anuradhapura, Minneriya, Sigiriya, and Katukurunda for twin-engine propeller planes to operate and run an efficient internal flying service. As for Mattala, for years, the authorities have tried to sell or lease it and have failed to make a transaction. Why not give it to the SLAF? Give it lock, stock and barrel and make them the custodians of Mattala. They sure can take care of any civil aeroplane movements and share with them the aerodrome. There is space for both and more.  Whatever you do, Diyawanna Oya, do not make a mockery of Ratmalana, she deserves better. (The writer is a pilot. He can be contacted at Elmojay1@gmail.com) …………….. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.  


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