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Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Transport Ashok Abeysinghe told Parliament this by answering a question from the opposition on whether Mattala Airport would be sold directly.
Abeysinghe said that India had expressed its willingness to operate the airport as a Sino-Indian company.
"Despite the losses, the airport will never be sold," he said.
Mattala Airport, named after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was a China-funded infrastructure project in his district of Hambantota.
The $ 210 million facility is dubbed the world's most empty airport due to a lack of flights. The only international flight operating from there was stopped in May due to recurring losses and flight safety issues.
In 2017, the government invited investors to turn the airport into a profit sharing joint venture. However, no proposal has been received to operate, manage and maintain the airport.
The port built in Hambantota, another Rajapaksa project, was leased to China to finance Chinese equity loans.
The opposition led by Rajapaksa called the Hambantota Port Agreement a sale of domestic goods to China.
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