Ratmalana Airport
| Ratmalana Airport කොළඹ ගුවන්තොටුපළ රත්මලාන கொழும்பு விமான நிலையம் இரத்மலானை |
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | VCCC |
| IATA code | RML |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 7 m (23 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 12 km south of Colombo |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1938 |
| operator | Airports & Aviation Services Ltd. |
| Start-and runway | |
| 04/22 | 1773 m × 30 m asphalt |
The Ratmalana Airport (originally as Colombo Airport known IATA code : RML ; ICAO code : VCCC ) was the first international airport in Ceylon . The airport, which is around 12 kilometers south of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo , has only been served by regular domestic flights since the opening of Bandaranaike International Airport in 1967 , and since 2012 also by international business flights . The operator is the Sri Lankan state company Airport & Aviation Services . The Sri Lanka Air Force Base Ratmalana and an aviation museum are also located on the airport premises .
history
The British colonial administration began planning an airfield south of Colombo in 1934 in order to integrate Ceylon into the postal network of the Indian Tata Airlines . The square was to have a 550-meter (600- yard ) runway and was to open at the end of 1934. Construction and commissioning were delayed until early 1938 due to difficulties in purchasing the land and other problems. In the meantime, the site was occasionally approached unofficially. The first aircraft to land on November 17, 1935, was a De Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth from Madras ( India ) from Madras Flying Club with two passengers on site.
The airport was officially opened on February 28, 1938 by Sir Andrew Caldecott, Governor of Ceylon. At the same time, Tata Airlines began air traffic from Colombo via Bombay (India) to Karachi ( Pakistan ) and established a connection to the local route network of Imperial Airways . Approach lighting was installed shortly after commissioning . The laying of the foundation stone of today's terminal building took place in August 1939. In the same year it was decided to extend the runway to 1,280 meters (1,400 yards), among other things in order to offer the Dutch KLM a landing possibility on its route from Amsterdam to Batavia . However, when the Second World War broke out , KLM did not establish connections via Ceylon. During the war, Tata Airlines continued to fly to the airport and also used it for military purposes.
The newly founded Air Ceylon offered passenger flights to the Indian cities of Trichinopoly and Madras from the summer of 1947 . In September 1948, British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC ) opened a weekly scheduled connection from London via Karachi ( Pakistan ) to Colombo. Air Ceylon also operated this route from summer 1949 and on January 20, 1950, in cooperation with Australian National Airways, set up a weekly scheduled service via Singapore to Sydney . In the early 1950s, the US American Trans World Airlines (TWA) also flew to the airport on long-haul routes via Europe. BOAC started using the De Havilland DH.106 Comet on its Colombo route on August 11, 1952 , making it the first company to fly jet aircraft to Ratmalana Airport . Due to a complete renovation of the runway, the airport was temporarily closed on March 1, 1958, and all flights were handled via Katunayake Airport , north of Colombo , which the Royal Air Force had assigned to Ceylon a year earlier . In the early 1960s it was decided to expand Katunayake Airport into the country's new international airport. When it opened in 1967, Ratmalana Airport lost its international status and since then has only been served by domestic scheduled flights and used by the Sri Lankan Air Force as a military airfield .
With the outbreak of the civil war in Sri Lanka at the beginning of the 1980s, civilian operations came to an almost complete standstill. After the end of the conflict, the airport has been gaining importance for national passenger and freight traffic since 2009 due to its proximity to the city. In August 2012 it got its international status back. So far, however, only international business flights have been processed through Ratmalana Airport .
Incidents
- On November 3, 1945, an Avro York C.1 (RAF serial number MW120) of the Royal Air Force had an accident on landing. The aircraft had to be written off as a total loss.
- On November 15, 1957, the co-pilot of a Vickers Viscount ( registration : VT-DIH) of Indian Airlines retracted the landing gear shortly after landing. All 42 inmates survived the incident; the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
- On September 7, 1978, an explosive device exploded on board a Hawker-Siddeley HS 748 Srs.2 of Air Ceylon (4R-ACJ) before take-off from Colombo-Ratmalana airport. The plane was to be transferred to Colombo-Katunayake Airport without passengers . The two pilots, who were the only occupants on the plane, survived the attack. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
- On February 21, 1997, an Antonov An-32 (CR865) of the Sri Lanka Air Force rolled over the end of the runway when taking off. Three of the 63 inmates were killed.
Web links
- Colombo-Ratmalana Airport website
- Site of the Sri Lanka Air Force Base Ratmalana
- Site of the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum, which is located on the airport grounds
Individual evidence
- ↑ Airport data from the state operating company Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Flight International, July 5, 1934
- ^ Flight International, July 29, 1937
- ↑ a b c History of Colombo Airport Ratmalana
- ^ Flight International, September 3, 1934
- ^ Flight International, February 21, 1935
- ^ Flight International, January 2, 1936
- ^ Flight International, April 14, 1938
- ^ Flight International, September 8, 1938
- ^ Flight International, January 12, 1939
- ^ Flight International, June 1, 1944
- ↑ Hybrid Airports (Pvt) Ltd., Ratmalana Airport ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Daily Mirror, Challenges and future of air traffic control in Sri Lanka, October 18, 2012
- ^ Aviation Safety Network, Avro York MW120 , November 3, 1945 (English), accessed May 12, 2017.
- ↑ Aviation Safety Network, Viscount VT-DIH , November 15, 1957 (English), accessed on May 12, 2017.
- ^ Accident report HS-748 4R-ACJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 2, 2019.
- ↑ Aviation Safety Network, AN-32 CR865 , February 21, 1997 (English), accessed May 12, 2017.
