Sri Lanka's "world's emptyest airport" is losing millions of rupees a day, but the search for a new buyer remains elusive

The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), financed and constructed by the Export-Import Bank of China, has been facing operational challenges since its opening in 2013.

Sri Lanka's Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), once ridiculed by foreign media as "the world's emptiest international airport," reported in April this year that its revenue was not even enough to pay the electricity bill, and the government was eager to find investors to take over. After more than four months, this "hot potato" has still not found a new operator. The latest official data shows that the airport is losing 6 million to 7 million Sri Lankan rupees (approximately NT$580,000 to NT$670,000) every day, and the annual loss is about 4 billion rupees (approximately NT$384 million).

MRIA was opened in 2013 and cost approximately US$209 million (approximately NT$6.6 billion). The construction funds mainly came from loans from the Export-Import Bank of China and were also constructed by Chinese investors. It was originally planned to receive 1 million passengers per year and was expected to become Sri Lanka's second international aviation gateway.

However, after the airport opened, the passenger flow has not been as expected, and it has even been dubbed the "World's Airiest International Airport". Sri Lanka's audit data shows that during the six years of statistics, the airport's cumulative net loss was approximately 39.369 billion Sri Lankan rupees (approximately NT$3.78 billion). The heavy burden is not just that, the annual interest cost of related foreign loans is about 2.05 billion Sri Lankan rupees (approximately NT$190 million).

The Sri Lankan Presidential Palace revealed in July this year that MRIA is still losing 6 million to 7 million rupees every day, and the annual loss is about 4 billion rupees. It requires relevant state-owned institutions to improve financial management and future development projects should not increase the burden on taxpayers.

The airport was also publicly bombarded by officials. Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena pointed out in Parliament in August that some large-scale construction projects, including MRIA, were influenced by political interests and personal will without proper feasibility studies in the past, and have now become “white elephant projects” and a heavy economic burden for the country. He also criticized that when some leaders promoted construction in the past, they considered their hometowns instead of national interests.

In order to find a way out for MRIA, the Sri Lankan government launched a new round of investment promotion in April this year, opening up domestic and foreign investors to propose airport operation and surrounding commercial development plans. The government ultimately received 19 expressions of interest. As of the latest progress in September, the Sri Lankan government is still evaluating relevant proposals and has not yet finalized a new operator. In other words, until new investors officially enter the market, this airport that has been losing money for many years will still have to be supported by the Sri Lankan government.