The Sri Lankan government is reportedly planning to build a third international airport in Trincomalee, local papers reported on Thursday.
The airport appears to be part of plans to re-develop Trincomalee as a tourism hub, which the government says will be completed by 2050.
The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said, "when you look back at Sri Lanka's history, we were a hub in the Indian Ocean where there were several ports."
"Countries in the Bay of Bengal region will fast develop within the next 20 years. By 2050 the population in this region is expected to reach 3 billion. Therefore, we have to consider Trincomalee as the Eastern Gateway," he added.
Earlier this week the prime minister launched a Trincomalee port development plan with a Singaporean consultancy firm, Surbana Jurong.
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