- it has been observed that with the dawn of peace in the country in 2009, passenger movements through the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) has increased at a rate of 15% and in the year 2013 over 7 million passengers were handled at the BIA. It is expected to increase the total capacity of the BIA to 15 million passengers per annum with the completion of Stage 2 of Phase II Development Project of the BIA. The proposal made by Hon. Piyankara Jayaratne, Minister of Civil Aviation, to proceed with the relevant activities relating to the above, was approved by the Cabinet.