Ratmalana International Airport, Sri Lanka’s first and oldest international airport, reopened its doors on Sunday after almost five decades of closure! The first aircraft from the Maldives to arrive at Sri Lanka’s international airport in 54 years, according to aviation authorities, was from the Maldives. According to sources, the 50-seater Maldivian airline would operate three trips per week to Colombo, with the number of flights increasing to five per week in the future months as demand increases.
During a ceremony held at Ratmalana Foreign Airport on Sunday, the city welcomed its first international visitors. Prior to this, the Maldivian airline used to fly to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, which is located on the outside of the country, on a regular basis.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), there will be three flights each week (on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays) between Velana International Airport in the Maldives and Ratmalana Airport in Sri Lanka. The flights will be operated by Sri Lankan Airlines.
According to Maldivian Airlines officials, almost 9000 Maldivians live in close proximity to the Ratmalana airport, which will now make traveling more easy for them.
The airport’s history may be found here.
Ratmalana International Airport, located near Colombo, Sri Lanka, opened its doors in 1938. It used to be the primary international airport in Sri Lanka during a period of time. However, in the late 1960s, the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake was completed, and Ratmalana was repurposed as a domestic terminal. Soon after, Bandaranaike International Airport was established as Sri Lanka’s primary international airport, handling both domestic and international flights. Ratmalana, on the other hand, continues to be Sri Lanka’s oldest airport.
Also announced is that the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka would lift the night landing restrictions on domestic aircraft that have been in effect since the civil war’s inception.
