Batticaloa Airport, January 2018
Batticaloa Airport will now be developed as a complete domestic airport and will receive new and modern amenities, stated Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga, after conducting an inspection tour of the airport on 1 July.
Ranatunga pledged to upgrade the airport and give it a much-needed facelift to ensure it meets the standards for domestic flights, as stated by dairlymirror.lk.
He also stated that the airport should be developed as an attractive travel destination for tourists while further developing the Eastern Province as a tourist destination.
However, in December 2019, Ranatunga announces the Batticaloa airport would be developed as an international airport, but its facilities were never upgraded to allow for international travel.
Batticaloa airport began running domestic flights in 2018 after running only military flights for nearly thirty years. Flights operated two years after Sri Lanka's previous President, Maithripala Sirisena, opened it to the public in July 2016 following renovation.
The Batticaloa airport, which can handle up to 60 passengers daily, facilitated travel for 3,980 passengers in 2018 and 3,373 in 2019.
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