Katunayake International Airport
Bandaranaike International Airport is one of the two international airports serving the city of Colombo, the other is Ratmalana Airport. Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport located in southern city of Hambantota is the other international airport in Sri Lanka. Bandaranaike International Airport is located in Katunayake, 22 miles north of Colombo. It is administered by Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. It is the hub of SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, and Mihin Lanka, the budget airline of Sri Lanka.HistoryThe airport began as a Royal Air Force airfield in 1944 during the Second World War, RAF Station NegomboIn 1957 it closed as the British left the island, and SWRD Bandaranaike removed all the British Military airfields from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the airfield was handed over to the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) and renamed Katunayake. Part of it still remains an military airfield.In 1964 Anil Moonesinghe, the Cabinet Minister of Communications, started the building of a new international airport to replace Ratmalana, with Canadian aid. The airport was completed in 1967, and Air Ceylon, the national carrier, began international operations from it using a Hawker Siddeley Trident and a leased British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) VC-10.
