Batticaloa International Airport ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம், translit=Maṭṭakkaḷappu Vimāṉa Nilaiyam, si, මඩකලපුව ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Maḍakalapuva Guvantoṭupaḷa) , formerly known as Batticaloa Airport, is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

serving eastern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is also a

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

known as Sri Lanka Air Force Batticaloa or SLAF Batticaloa. The airport is located in the village of Puthunagar on the island of Thimilathiu, south-west of the city of

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

. It resides at an elevation of and has one runway designated 06/24 with a

bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface measuring . Established in 1958 as a domestic airport, the airport ceased functioning in 1979 following the collapse of

Air Ceylon Air Ceylon was the former flag carrier airline of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The airline discontinued flights to Europe in early 1978 and finally ceased all local services on 31 August 1979, when it was replaced by Air Lanka and then rebranded to Sr ...

. The site was taken over by the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Domestic flight A domestic flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in the same country. Airports serving domestic flights only are known as domestic airports. Domestic flights are generally c ...

s resumed in 2018 and in 2019 it became Sri Lanka's fifth international airport.

History

Domestic airport

Batticaloa Airport was originally opened on 17 November 1958 and was administered by

Department of Civil Aviation A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

. About a decade later

started operating

domestic flight A domestic flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in the same country. Airports serving domestic flights only are known as domestic airports. Domestic flights are generally c ...

s between Batticaloa and

Ratmalana Ratmalana is a suburb in Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is inside the administration boundary of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. Ratmalana is situated 14.6 km south of Colombo city centre. Ratmalana Airport locat ...

via Gal Oya Airport using a 29-seat

Nord Aviation Nord-Aviation ( en, Northern Aviation) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France. On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was c ...

aircraft. The 75 minute flight between Batticaloa and Ratmalana became popular, particularly with government employees who could use

railway warrant A railway warrant is a voucher issued for travel on railways for certain groups such as government employees, company employees, military personnel and retirees at subsidized rates or free of charge, exchangeable for a ticket to travel. The cost ...

s for three domestic flights each year. Following the failure of Air Ceylon in August 1979 all domestic flights from the airport ceased.

Sri Lankan civil war

On 27 March 1983 an

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

base on the site was opened M. A. Abdul Majeed, Deputy Minister of Post and Telecommunication and District Minister for Batticaloa. In 1985 around 300 families were forcibly evicted from their homes in order to expand the airport. Using emergency regulations, officials ordered residents living within a 500m radius of the runway to leave their residences. 230 homes, three temples and two schools in the villages of Puduvur and Valai Iravu were affected. Evicted residents claimed that officials had threatened to

bulldoze A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

their homes if they did not leave. The evicted families were each given 20

perches Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

of land outside Batticaloa but the compensation for loss of their homes, which officials had promised would be paid within six months, took more than a decade to be paid and was much lower than originally promised. The airport was not expanded, nor was the runway extended, instead

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

fencing was erected around the airport and the area declared a "security zone".

Post-civil war

Following the end of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, construction of a domestic airport at the base began in September 2012. The

Road Development Authority The Road Development Authority (commonly abbreviated as RDA); ( si, මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය; ta, வீதி அபிவிருத்தி அதிகார சபை) is the premier highway authority ...

was given the task of extending the runway from 1,070 metres to 1,560 metres, suitable for 60-seater aircraft, but in November 2015, with 60% of the work completed, the renovation came to a stop. In December 2015 the government ordered the air force to complete the extension of the runway. The location of the airport, a narrow

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

surrounded on three sides by

Batticaloa Lagoon Batticaloa Lagoon is a very large estuarine lagoon in Batticaloa District, eastern Sri Lanka. The city of Batticaloa is located on land between the lagoon and the Indian Ocean.Batticaloa district is flourished with three lagoons, such Battical ...

, limited the length of the runway. A new terminal building was also built by the air force. The airport came under the jurisdiction of the

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

from 31 May 2016 and the

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

Airport and Aviation Services was appointed operator of the civilian side of the airport. The airport covers an area of out of which the air force occupies just over half - . The renovated airport was opened by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

on 10 July 2016 but as it did not conform to civil aviation requirements there was no civilian flights from the airport. Civilian operations eventually commenced on 25 March 2018 with

Cinnamon Air Saffron Aviation, DBA Cinnamon Air is a Sri Lankan domestic airline, operating from a dedicated terminal at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo to destinations around Sri Lanka. It commenced its daily scheduled operation in July 2013. ...

operating two daily flights. The renovations cost Rs 1.4 billion.

International airport

Jaffna Airport Jaffna International Airport ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணம் சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம், translit=Yāḻppāṇam Carvatēca Vimāṉa Nilaiyam; si, යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුව ...

was being redeveloped by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, civil society groups from

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

Sri Lanka complained to the Indian

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

that Indian development work was only focussed on the north and ignored the east. In 2019 the Indian government agreed to redevelop Batticaloa Airport and the Sri Lankan government agreed to make it an international airport as well.

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

approval was given in September 2019 to make the airport a regional airport, allowing

international flight An international flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in different countries. Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight going from Lond ...

s but not

long-haul In aviation, the flight length refers to the distance of a flight. Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by commercial airlines based on flight length, although there is no international standard definition and ...

flights. In early October 2019 the airport was made a regional airport and renamed Batticaloa International Airport. The airport is expected to be ready for international flights by January 2020. Alliance Air and FitsAir have expressed interest in operating international flights from Batticaloa.

Airlines and destinations

All the following flights are currently suspended because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1958 establishments in Ceylon Airports in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Air Force bases Transport buildings and structures in Batticaloa District Airports established in 1958