Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport guide

Bandaranaike International Airport is Sri Lanka's main gateway for international air travel, sited at Katunayake near Negombo. The site began as a Royal Air Force airfield during the Second World War, later redeveloped for civil use and opened for international operations in 1967; it was renamed after Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1970.

The airport runs on a single runway, unusual for a facility handling close to 9 million passengers a year. SriLankan Airlines operates its main hub here, linking Colombo to the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia along routes such as Dubai, Male, Chennai and Doha. A second parallel runway has been proposed to ease capacity pressure as traffic keeps rising.

State-owned Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited manages the site, along with several other civil airports across the country. Construction continues on a second international terminal, while cargo handling has expanded since the dedicated cargo terminal opened in 2009.