Speaker Biograghy: Gnanasiri Withanage works as Chief Project Engineer of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Development project. He holds a BSc in Engineering from the University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka, and has 28 years' experience in various civil and airport-related projects. He is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka. Gnanasiri has been involved in the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Development project from inception through to the commissioning of commercial operations. He has wide experience in environmental and social mitigation and approval process, airport design, construction of airport facilities, and finally, airport readiness and commissioning of commercial operations. Gnanasiri has faced many challenges in the area of environmental pressure groups, social and political circles during the project formulation, and he has had to manage design and build contractors for quality, progress and cost control.


Day 2 - 26 March
Session: Airport Design, Planning & Development - Middle East & Asia

16:10 - 16:35 - Challenges in greenfield airport development
Synopsis: Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Sri Lanka is a greenfield airport commissioned on 18 March 2013. This is a second international airport on the Island of Sri Lanka. It has the capacity to handle one million passengers per year, and to be an alternative to the country's main airport, Bandaranaike International in Colombo. The construction of a greenfield airport in a country like Sri Lanka is an immerse challenge due to powerful environmental groups and democratic political systems. The Government of Sri Lanka prioritised this project as a keystone for development of an under-developed region, and it was completed on time.

Audience will learn:

• Environmental challenges and approval process
• Ways of handling design and build contracts
• Management of stakeholders' requirements
• Challenges in the construction
• Airport readiness and commissioning