Sri Lanka closed airport to avoid insurance premium increases

Sri Lanka closed its only international airport for night flights at the request of national carrier SriLankan Airlines, who would have otherwise been slapped a high insurance premium, the president's office said in a statement Wednesday.
The government earlier said they were shutting the Bandaranaike International Airport check-in counters and the only runway, as a security measure against raids by rebel Tamil Tiger aircraft.
International airlines had feared that they could get caught up in anti-aircraft fire directed against rebel aircraft, which since March, have carried out a series of night time bombing raids.
However, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said the decision was taken mainly "at the request of SriLankan Airlines, which was the only airline with regular night operations."
Under the new security measures, the airport will remain shut for six hours at night from 10:00 pm (1730 GMT).
The airport shares a runway with the Sri Lankan air force, which has been targeted by Tamil Tiger rebels causing some flights to be diverted to the southern Indian city of Chennai.
16/05/07 Lanka Business Online, Sri Lanka

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Categories: Airports May 2007, Foreign May 2007