A flying School and a Domestic Charter Airline is to be established near  the MRIA on a proposal submitted by the Minister of Transport and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management(CCEM).

The CCEM has given its approval for the project proposal of the Sakurai Aviation Limited, 120/3 Kirulapane Avenue Colombo 05 to provide a six hectare land to Sakurai Aviation on a 33 year lease in an unsolicited bid.

According to CCEM conditions the land allocated to the company shall be within the areas identified and under the Control of Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka for General Aviation in the proposed Expression of Interest.

The company should pay a ground rental of US $ 50,000 per hectare per annum with periodical revisions, a senior official of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation told the Business Times.         

 The airport has a 12,000 square meter terminal building, 12 check-in counters, two gates, a runway long enough to handle the largest commercial jets, and capacity for one million passengers per year.

Sakurai Aviation limited presents its self as a leading charter domestic flight carrier which is committed to cater to the short haul domestic travel market.

This local company is a subsidiary of Sakurai Enterprises Company Limited in Japan,

Sakurai Enterprise Co.Ltd has succeeded in becoming one of the top exporters in the machinery Trade in Japan. A Sri Lankan entrepreneur Rushan Fernando is the chairman of the company.

Several companies are now flying helicopters for private use and to ferry corporate passengers. Most do not operate scheduled flights, but are available for charter

Prices to charter a helicopter can range from US$ 2,000 per hour (most expensive) to US$ 1,000 per hour. Some companies are also running flying schools, Ministry official said.