The Bandaranaike International Airport re-opened on Thursday morning after temporary shutting down for nearly 10-hours, following a Russian cargo plane crash that damaged the airports only runway and taxi lights.
The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the damaged IL-18 cargo carrier has been towed away, with the runway and taxi lights fixed before the airport was opened around 8.00 am.rn
rnA SriLankan Airlines flight from Zurich was the first to land at 8.15 am, after Wednesday nights mishap, the statement said.rn
rnDuring the closure, all in-bound flights were diverted to Madras, India and some flights to Colombo did not take off from their ports of embarkation.rn
rnThe Russian cargo carrier is operated by Expo Aviation and was transporting cargo from Dubai at the time of making an emergency belly landing around 10.30 pm on Wednesday. rn
rnIts seven-member crew was safe despite the nose wheel failing to open, which blocked the runway.rn
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