Batticaloa airport in eastern Sri Lanka opened to scheduled passenger traffic on March 25, 2018, after a LKR1.4 billion rupees (USD9 million) reconstruction project, The Daily News has reported.
Several private airlines have reportedly already expressed interest in serving the city, although so far no confirmed information has surfaced. The former military airports' runway was upgraded and extended to 1,066 metres. The passenger terminal was also rebuilt.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the city of Batticaloa is currently served by Cinnamon Air (C7, Colombo International) which operates a 14x weekly seaplane operation to Kotte near the capital Colombo. However, the carrier does not use the land-based facilities.
Cinnamon Air and Sri Lanka Air Force (Colombo International) owned Helitours (Colombo Ratmalana) are the only airlines providing large-scale domestic scheduled services in Sri Lanka. flydubai operates 4x weekly out of Colombo International to Hambantota in the southern part of the country as a part of its service out of Dubai International; however, the airline does not have the eighth freedom rights and does not sell tickets for the domestic sector in Sri Lanka.
