According to the government, the maintenance of Duty Free Shops, which play a key role in airport trade activities, in arrival and departure terminals has been given as a franchise right shared among two operators.

The duty free concession at the airport was split between World Duty Free Group and Flemingo in mid-2011 for a period of five years, and so the contract will expire later this year, according to The Moodie Report.

Previous contracts had been awarded as a franchise right with no tender procedure or calling for competitive bidding conducted in selection, the government stated.

The new contracts will be for a period of five years and cover both arrivals and departures.

Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal put forward by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Nimal Siripala de Silva, to appoint a Cabinet-Appointed Procurement Committee and Technical Evaluation Committee, to oversee the tender procedure "in a more transparent manner with the intention of gaining more benefits to Airport and Aviation Services Limited."