Sri Lanka’s aviation sector has reached a major milestone, with its airports recording rapid growth in passenger, aircraft, and cargo movements in 2024. The country’s airports collectively handled 8.88 million passenger movements, showing a 17.69 per cent increase compared to 2023, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited said on Friday (24).
Aircraft movements saw a remarkable rise of 20.69 per cent, totalling 56,289 operations, while 192,498 MT of cargo were transported, marking a 21.13 per cent growth in cargo movements.
This growth is seen as the pivotal role of Sri Lanka’s airports — Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Jaffna International Airport (JIA), and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) — in strengthening regional connectivity and facilitating travel, trade, and commerce.
Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) remains the country’s primary gateway, while Jaffna International Airport continues to enhance connectivity to the Northern region, and MRIA plays a growing role in cargo operations and tourism.
In 2024, BIA served over 30 airlines, including major international carriers like Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, Air India, IndiGo, and Turkish Airlines, in addition to the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines. Notably, six of Skytrax’s World’s Top 10 Airlines in 2024 operated flights to Sri Lanka, including Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Swiss International Air Lines.
A growing trend observed in 2024 is that several airlines, such as Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, IndiGo, Turkish Airlines, and Air China, increased their flight frequencies to Sri Lanka. Additionally, airlines like Thai Airways, Chongqing Airlines, Aeroflot, and Cathay Pacific Airways resumed scheduled passenger flights to Colombo, further boosting connectivity.
Seasonal charter airlines, including Enter Air, Edelweiss, Azur Air, SkyUp, and Air Astana, also resumed operations, bringing more tourists to the country. In November 2024, Jetstar Asia launched scheduled flights from Singapore, while Red Wings Airlines resumed flights to Mattala International Airport in October. Centrum Air, an Uzbekistan-based carrier, and SkyUp began seasonal flight operations at MRIA in December 2024. Further, IndiGo commenced scheduled international flights to Jaffna on 1 September 2024
