Sri Lanka is expected to double the passenger handling capacity of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to 15 million passengers a year by 2020 with Japanese assistance, Government Spokesperson, Minister said.

The Minister made this statement at the weekly Cabinet briefing in Colombo. Sri Lanka will borrow Rs.48.9 billion from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) for the Project.

Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made by Prime Minister and Minister of Policy Formulation, Economic Affairs, Child, Youth and Cultural Affairs to enter into an agreement with the Government of Japan to obtain these funds and to carry out future activities relating to this matter. Currently, the BIA has the handling capacity of 7.4 million.