Sri Lankan air space DANGEROUS - SLATCA

The Sri Lankan airspace could become a dangerous space due to the scarcity of air traffic controllers, the Air Traffic Controllers’ Association of Sri Lanka (SLATCA) warned yesterday.

The association said the country required at least 120 Air Traffic Controllers but had only 82 Air Traffic Controllers, who were most often over worked and exhausted.

These ATCS were engaged in operations at control towers in Katunayake, Ratmalana and the Mattala Airports and Approach Radar Centres in Katunayake, Ratmalana and at the Area Control Centre in Ratmalana.

Air Traffic Controllers said that they currently did the operational work overseeing 300 aircraft daily, which were arriving, departing and flying over the Sri Lankan air space.

The Association explained that ATCS in Sri Lanka were working more shifts than was recommended by international standards.

The closure of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for eight hours each day and the resulting heavy air traffic in the night had controllers juggling longer shifts with more work, it said.

They said that they would be further burdened after the Batticaloa Domestic Airport was taken over by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Representatives of the association said that the number of ATCS in the country had been reduced as certified professionals found employment in other countries with better work conditions.

The association said that despite requests by the Civil Aviation and Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva to fill in the vacancies for ATCS, the authorities had done nothing.

They said the Minister had instructed authorities to immediately recruit 36 more ATCS during a meeting held at the BIA last year, but the airport management had failed to do so.