Batticaloa Airport
| Batticaloa Airport மட்டக்களப்பு விமான நிலையம் මඩකලපුව ගුවන්තොටුපළ | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 SLAF Batticaloa crest | |||||||||||
| IATA: BTC – ICAO: VCCB | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of Sri Lanka | ||||||||||
| Operator | Sri Lanka Air Force | ||||||||||
| Serves | Batticaloa | ||||||||||
| Location | Thimilathiu, Sri Lanka | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1958 | ||||||||||
| Commander | G. S. N. Priyadarshana | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 3 m / 10 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 07°42′18.70″N 81°40′38.30″E / 7.7051944°N 81.6773056°ECoordinates: 07°42′18.70″N 81°40′38.30″E / 7.7051944°N 81.6773056°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  BTC | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Batticaloa Airport (Tamil: மட்டக்களப்பு விமான நிலையம், Sinhalese: මඩකලපුව ගුවන්තොටුපළ) (IATA: BTC, ICAO: VCCB) is an air force base and domestic airport on the island of Thimilathiu in eastern Sri Lanka.[1][2] Located approximately 2.4 km (1.5 mi) south east of the city of Batticaloa, the airport is also known as SLAF Batticaloa.
History
Batticaloa Airport was originally opened in November 1958 but was later closed down.[3][4] On 27 March 1983 an air force base was opened on the site.[5] In 1985 around 3,000 people forcibly evicted from their homes in order to extend the base.[6] Construction of a domestic airport at the base began in September 2012.[7][8]
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FitsAir | Colombo-Ratmalana (charter) |
| Helitours | Colombo-Ratmalana |
| SriLankan Airlines operated by Cinnamon Air | Colombo-Bandaranaike, Sigiriya |
References
- ↑ "VCCB BATTICALOA". Aeronautical Information Services of Sri Lanka, Airport & Aviation Services.
- ↑ "BTC - Airport". Great Circle Mapper.
- ↑ Casinader, Prince (20 May 2013). "Batticaloa welcomes re-opening of its airport". Ceylon Today.
- ↑ "Appeals to re-open Batticaloa Airport". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Sri Lanka Air Force Batticaloa". Sri Lanka Air Force. Archived from the original on 11 August 2007.
- ↑ de Silva, Shelani (27 July 1997). "12 year agony for airport victims". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
- ↑ "President kicks off construction of domestic airport at Batti". Daily FT. 4 September 2012.
- ↑ "Foundation stone laid to build terminal building". Ceylon Today. 5 September 2012.
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
