Sigiriya Airport is an

air force base 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 ...

and domestic airport located in central

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 ...

. Located near the city of

Dambulla Dambulla ( si, දඹුල්ල ''Dam̆bulla'', ta, தம்புள்ளை ''Tampuḷḷai'') is a town situated in the north of Matale District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is the second largest populated and urbanised centre aft ...

, the airport is also known as SLAF Sigiriya.

History

Sigiriya Airport was first opened in 1942 as an airfield established by the

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 ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. A number of RAF squadrons ( 8 (1945),

160 Year 160 ( CLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Atilius and Vibius (or, less frequently, year 913 '' Ab urbe condita''). ...

(1943-44),

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

(1944-45), 203 (1944-45),

354 __NOTOC__ Year 354 ( CCCLIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Constantius (or, less frequently, yea ...

(1944)) and other units were stationed at the airfield during and immediately after the war. With the end of the war, and subsequently no use for the airfield it was abandoned by the RAF in 1946. On 19 April 1985 the airfield was opened again for 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 ...

Lalith Athulathmudali Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...

, then Minister of National Security and Deputy Minister of Defence, on the invitation of Air Marshal

Donald Perera Air Chief Marshal G Donald Perera VSV, USP is a Sri Lanka air officer who served as commander of the Air Force from 2002 to 2006 and Chief of the Defence Staff from 2006 to 2009. He served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Israel. Early life and edu ...

, Commander of the Air Force.

Airlines and destinations

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* Airports in Sri Lanka Buildings and structures in Matale District Sri Lanka Air Force bases Transport in Central Province, Sri Lanka World War II sites in Sri Lanka Dambulla {{SriLanka-airport-stub