Bids called for Jaffna Airport modification worth Rs 303 Million

Jaffna International Airport in Palaly

Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (AASL) has called bids from local companies for an estimated Rs 303mn expansion and modification to the passenger terminal building at the Jaffna International Airport (JIA) in Palaly.

However, the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA)-funded expansion of the Bandaranaike International Airport – now urgent due to heavy overcrowding during peak hours – is seriously lagging. The two offers received are still under technical evaluation.

The bid closing date for the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Development Project was March this year, but the tender was advertised as early as mid-last year. The financial bids can only be opened once JICA concurs with the results of the technical evaluation.

Industry sources said officials are exercising “an overabundance of caution” after the Committee on Public Enterprises denounced the manner in which the project was executed in the past.

Meanwhile, a pre-bid meeting for the Palaly tender is scheduled for next week, with closing the date for tender submission listed as September 10. Bidding is to be conducted through the national competitive bidding procedure (NCB).

The work includes expanding and modifying the arrival area of the passenger terminal. Construction must be finished in six months. The project will be financed with AASL funds.

Bidders must have an average annual construction work volume of at least Rs 1bn over the last five years and liquid assets or credit facilities of not less than Rs 167mn.

In December 2024, AASL had invited proposals from reputed companies to study the feasibility of expanding JIA, but entities from countries adjacent to Colombo’s Flight Information Region (FIR) – India, Maldives, Indonesia and Australia – were excluded from applying on grounds of conflict of interest.

The airport currently caters to daily flights between Jaffna and Chennai and Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. Passenger movements have grown steadily.

Separately, Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) is evaluating 9 bids for a Rs 5.5bn contract to personalise its upcoming ePassport consignments. The tender closing date was twice extended owing to an overwhelming number of parties vying for the project. The successful bidder must implement a two-key encryption solution which will allow the Sri Lanka passport’s unique public key infrastructure (PKI) to be lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) public key directory (PKD) for access by immigration authorities worldwide. (Courtesy: The Sunday Times)