The deep sea harbor was surprisingly sanded and had been closed for six months.  The big refinery was still not working but the new International Airport was opened.

    Not as planned on November 18^th, 2012 but on March 18^th.

Thanks to Roy’s excellent connections we were able to visit the airport three days prior to the opening.  We were even able to go inside the building and take pictures.

But we had no clue how they would manage to finish the rest of the work with just three days remaining.  Hundreds of people were putting grass patches onto the bare ground in the surrounding compound and there was severe construction work going on at the building.  When we watched the opening ceremony on TV, everything was green and shiny.  But the report was a bit hectic as the camera focused no longer than a few seconds on the same spot. 

A bit unpractical is the fact that the kerosene to refuel the airplanes has to be brought all the way from Colombo by road.  On the other hand, there might not be too many planes in the near future that need a refill at the Matala Rajapakse International Airport in Hambantota.

The general situation for the people in Sri Lanka has turned from bad to worse.  One liter gasoline costs CHF 1.20 and diesel is CHF 0.90.  This is a country where a small employee at a hotel earns CHF 100 a month.  On April 1^st the price for electricity went up by 30%, last year at the same time by 40% and the year before it doubled

Understandable, that the people were not overly excited to have a new airport with “the longest runway in Asia”.