COLOMBO, May 3: Sri Lanka will close its only international airport at night from next week following a spate of nocturnal bombing raids by Tamil Tiger aircraft, a top aviation official told reporters on Thursday.

The Bandaranaike International Airport, which shares a runway with an adjoining military base, will close between 10:30pm (1700 GMT) and 4:30am (2200 GMT) from May 10, acting director general of Civil Aviation Parakrama Dissanayake said.

He said international airlines will have a week to reschedule flights to the troubled island, where the rebel Tamil Tigers added a new dimension to a drawn out separatist conflict by using light aircraft for the fist time last month.

At least three international airlines suspended night flights after Tiger guerrillas flew across the airport’s airspace to carry out bombings in the capital, Colombo, and its suburbs.

The night-time closure would be for three months initially, and any extension would depend on the security situation, officials said.

“The decision was taken mainly to minimise public inconvenience, which may take place due to disruption of flights. Passenger safety is paramount to us,” Dissanayake said.

The airport has been forced to shut down three times in recent weeks, with many incoming flights diverted to the nearby southern Indian city of Chennai.

Dubai’s Emirates Airlines and Singapore Airlines have already switched to daytime flying after their services were disrupted when Tiger planes bombed a fuel depot near Colombo last Sunday.

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific has totally suspended its services to and from Sri Lanka.

Singapore Airlines, Cathay and Emirates account for about a quarter of Sri Lanka’s air passenger traffic, according to local travel agents.

National carrier Sri Lankan Airlines, which brings in most of the passengers travelling to Colombo, said it was also rescheduling its flights to accommodate the changes.

The airport handles about 70 flights a day and the night-time shut down would affect 40 per cent of them.

The Tigers, who have been fighting for a separate state since 1972, carried out air attacks for the first time on March 26 by bombing the Katunayake air base, where the military has its fleet of supersonic jets.

Tiger guerrillas had previously attacked the air base on foot in July 2001, when they destroyed more than a dozen military aircraft and bombed six civilian passenger jets.

The rebels are believed to be operating five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled.

Sri Lanka’s military has set up anti-aircraft guns at key locations in Colombo and elsewhere.

Security forces lit up the night sky with anti-aircraft fire and tracer bullets on Sunday. More than a dozen people were wounded by bullets falling on them.

Western nations have already asked their nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Sri Lanka.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s drawn out Tamil separatist conflict in the past 35 years.—AFP