Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana ( si, කොළඹ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, රත්මලාන, translit=Koḷam̆ba Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa, Ratmalāna; ta, கொழும்பு சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம், இரத்மலானை, translit=Koḻumpu Sarvadesa Vimāṉa Nilaiyam, Iratmalāṉai) (commonly known as Ratmalana International Airport, Colombo–Ratmalana and locally as Ratmalana Airport) , is the secondary international airport serving the city of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, the capital of Sri Lanka. It was the country's first

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

and was the only international airport in Sri Lanka until the inauguration of

Bandaranaike International Airport Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) ( si, බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, பண்டாரநாயக்க � ...

Katunayake Katunayake ( si, කටුනායක, ta, கட்டுநாயகம்), is a suburb of Negombo city in Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is the site of Bandaranaike International Airport or Colombo Airport, the primary international air g ...

in 1967. The airport currently serves several domestic services and is home to several aviation training organisations. A relaxation of rules has recently seen the airport open for international corporate jet operations and charter flights. The airport is located 15 km south of the Colombo City. The strategic significance of Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana has been identified along with the emerging Colombo Financial City, High End Tourism and business travel needs of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs). The long-term strategic goal of RMA is to bring the airport to the optimum operational capacity by maximum utilization of existing resources. Therefore, to achieve this goal, five strategic areas with specific strategies have been identified as Corporate Jet Operations, Domestic Aviation Hub, Aviation Training hub in the Region, FBO & MRO investments and Regional Airports Operations.

History

Launch

In 1934 the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

made a decision to construct an aerodrome within reach of the capital city of Colombo and decided on

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 ...

as the best site. On 27 November 1935 a

De Havilland Puss Moth The de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth is a British three-seater high-wing monoplane aeroplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1929 and 1933. It flew at a speed approaching 124 mph (200 km/h), making it o ...

flown by Captain Tyndale-Biscoe, chief flying instructor of the

Madras Flying Club Madras Flying Club is an Flight training, aviation academy in Tiruchi, India. It offers courses on pilot training, aircraft maintenance, and cabin crew management, among others. It is one of the oldest aviation academies in the country. Locatio ...

, was the first aircraft to land at the new airport.

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was used as a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

airfield, with No 30 Squadron flying

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s from there against

Japanese Navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

aircraft. QEA flew civilianised Consolidated

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

and

Avro Lancastrian The Avro 691 Lancastrian was a Canadian and British passenger and mail transport aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s developed from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Lancaster was named after Lancaster, Lancashire; a Lancastrian is an inhabit ...

aeroplanes there from

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, on what was at the time the world's longest non-stop air route. The flight continued after the war with an intermediate re-fuelling stop at the

Cocos Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

. The following units were here at some point:

Peak of civilian service

Ratmalana airport at one time had the country's main air terminal, with the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

Dakota and

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

aeroplanes 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 ...

flying out of it. In 1947,

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

flew

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...

Skymasters through the airport on the route from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) In the 1950s, BOAC flew Canadair Argonauts (DC4 with

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...

engines) from Ratmalana to London. On 11 August 1952, 3 months after the inaugural service of a passenger jet aircraft, BOAC began its Comet service between Colombo and London. Later (March 1962 - March 1971) Air Ceylon operated a Comet service on this route to London. The airport was also a

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

(TWA) destination for a short time in the 1950s.

Domestic-only era

In 1964, the government decided to build the new Bandaranaike International Airport north of the city, to replace Ratmalana. The new airport was completed in 1967 and Ratmalana handed over all international services to the new airport. Ratmalana was left with the relatively small market for domestic air travel in the country.

Return to international service

As of 27 March 2022, the airport resumed international travel after 55 years.

Expansion and upgrade

The airport is only 15 km south of the

city centre compared to the larger

which is 32 km north of the city. The airport aims to attract private international flights and low-cost airlines. Helitours, an airline operated by the Sri Lankan Airforce is based at the airport. There are a few industrial facilities such as the Bata shoe factory within a close proximity of the airport. The Government is developing the Ratmalana airport into an international city airport, which would provide services to private jets and small aircraft. In addition facilities at the

Ampara Ampara ( si, අම්පාර, ta, அம்பாறை) is the main town of Ampara District, governed by an Urban Council. It is located in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, about east of Colombo and approximately south of Batticaloa. Hi ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Koggala Koggala ( si, කොග්ගල, translit=Koggala; ta, கொக்கலை, translit=Kokkalai) is a small coastal town, situated at the edge of a lagoon on the south coast of Sri Lanka, located in Galle District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, ...

airports will be also upgraded. Repair to the runway and reconfiguration to the aerodrome for the use of corporate jet traffic would be done as a short-term development project of the Ratmalana airport. Improvements to the existing terminal building, repair to the runway, taxiway and apron, reconfiguration to the aerodrome for the use of corporate jet traffic would be done as a short-term development project of the Ratmalana airport. Under the medium-term of the Ratmalana airport development project: *Improvements to the existing terminal building *Control tower *Taxiway *Road network improvements *Navigational equipment installations *Constructing a terminal for civil movements and apron also implemented

Current Facilities at the Airport

*Ground Handling * Immigration Service *Baggage and Passenger screening as per

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

Standards *Quarantine * Re-fueling * VIP Lounge * Aeronautical Information Services

Terminals

There are currently 2 terminals at the airport. * Terminal 1: International Corporate Jets & Domestic * Terminal 2: International Regional Operations

Airlines and destinations

Passenger flights

Lodger Squadrons

* No. 8 Light Transport Squadron

Accidents and incidents

1960s

*On 15 November 1961,

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

VT-DIH of

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after mer ...

was damaged beyond economic repair when the co-pilot retracted the undercarriage during landing.

1970s

*On 7 September 1978, an Air Ceylon

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorption by Hawker Siddeley. ...

(registered 4R-ACJ) was destroyed in a fire while parked at Ratmalana Airport. Two pilots had been carrying out pre-departure checkups, when the fire started by the explosion of a bomb in the aircraft cargo hold.Air Ceylon 1978 bomb incident at the Aviation Safety Network
/ref>

1990s

* 29 September 1998 -

Lionair Flight 602 Lionair Flight 602 was a Lionair Antonov An-24RV which crashed into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka on 29 September 1998. The aircraft departed Jaffna Airport with 48 passengers and a crew of seven; it disappeared from radar scr ...

, operated by an

Antonov An-24RV The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irk ...

, fell into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka under mysterious circumstances after departing

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

bound for Ratmalana Airport. All 55 passengers and crew members died, including the four member

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

cockpit crew.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official website of Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana

Sri Lanka Air Force Base Ratmalana
Airports in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Air Force bases Buildings and structures in Colombo District World War II sites in Sri Lanka {{authority control