New airport for Hingurakogoda on the books?

Sri Lanka is currently looking at the prospect of establishing an airport in Hingurakgoda at an estimated cost of USD 65 million as per the master plan drawn up for the development of Trincomalee, which was launched in Colombo in July 2018. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has a vision of airports around the island with Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport on the West Coast, Mattala’s ‘Rajapaksa International Airport’ on the South Coast, and another airport for the East, i.e. Hingurakgoda Airport, according to Airport & Aviation Services Ltd (AASL) Executive Director Johanne Jayaratne. The cost for the airport would only involve the development of the runway, lighting and terminal construction to cater to international standards with a capacity of 1 million passengers arriving on narrow-body aircraft like the A320 and A319. The runway length would be 2,287 m (7,500 ft), the width 46 m. At present the airport is manned by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and operated as a military facility since 1942 during the time of the Royal Air Force. However, Mr Jayaratne, an expert in the aviation industry, believes the Colombo and Mattala airports are sufficient and connected to the twelve domestic airports in the country. “So many international airports may not be viable,” he said adding that authorities would need to convince airlines to fly in directly to the airport. This plan for an Eastern airport is currently being worked out under the Megapolis plan of action for the development of Trincomalee as the eastern economic hub by the year 2050. “Trincomalee would be repositioned as the ‘Eastern Tourism Hub’ with increased regional connectivity realized through the Colombo - Trincomalee economic corridor development and the proposed Hingurakgoda International Airport,” the vision framework of the plan said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the roadmap to develop Sri Lanka as the hub of the Indian Ocean will be completed with this master plan. #1080.18