Debt-trap: Sri Lanka struggles for investment in China-built ‘white elephant’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Sri Lanka on Sunday invited fresh investment proposals for its struggling Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, billed as the “world’s emptiest airport,” after a proposed 30-year lease with an Indo-Russian joint venture failed to materialise, the media reported.
Built with Chinese loans near a wildlife sanctuary on the island nation’s southern coast, the deserted and desolate airport has had no regular flights since opening in 2013. It has consistently failed to generate enough revenue to cover even basic expenses such as electricity, making it a continued drain on public finances, the reports said.
Named after Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former President and Prime Minister, the airport was part of a wider infrastructure push backed by heavy Chinese borrowing. Many of these projects later turned commercially unviable, contributing to Sri Lanka’s mounting debt burden. The crisis culminated in the country defaulting on its USD 46 billion foreign debt in 2022.
Sri Lanka, whose revenue mainstay, tourism, collapsed after the COVID-19 pandemic, realized how China had debt-trapped it, which fuelled a mass uprising.
Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as Prime Minister on May 9, 2022, following months of mass anti-government protests and violent clashes, ending his politically powerful dynasty’s near-20-year dominance. His resignation was triggered by a severe economic crisis, leading to shortages of fuel and essentials. His departure preceded the eventual flight of his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in July 2022.
The White Elephant
In its call for expressions of interest, Colombo said the airport offers “untapped potential for growth opportunities… for exotic tourism development and strategic investment.”
Despite the pitch, however, the airport’s location remains a major hurdle. Situated along a migratory bird route, it has faced repeated disruptions due to bird strikes. At one point, the Sri Lankan army had to deploy hundreds of personnel to clear deer, wild buffalo, and elephants from the runway.
Currently, the facility functions mainly as a backup airport for Colombo during bad weather, despite being only a short flight away. While some cargo and charter operations continue, revenues remain insufficient for its upkeep.
In 2017, Sri Lanka, struggling to service its debt, leased the nearby Hambantota port to China Merchants Port Holdings for 99 years, fuelling concerns over Beijing’s “debt trap” diplomacy.
A later attempt to lease the airport to a joint venture between India’s Shaurya Aeronautics and Russia’s Airports of Regions Management Company also failed to take off.
Since securing an IMF bailout, Sri Lanka has been trying to privatise several loss-making state enterprises, although progress has remained limited.
