Batticaloa International Airport guide

Batticaloa International Airport (ICAO VCCB) stands on Thimilathivu island in Puthunagar village, about 2 km south-west of Batticaloa on Sri Lanka's east coast. It opened in 1958 as a domestic airport under the Department of Civil Aviation. The Sri Lanka Air Force also runs a base here, known as SLAF Batticaloa, and it occupies just over half of the site's 145 hectares.

Air Ceylon flew domestic services to Colombo Ratmalana until the airline failed in 1979. The air force took over the site during the civil war and civil flights stopped. A renovated airport opened in July 2016, and scheduled civil operations began on 25 March 2018 with Cinnamon Air flying twice daily. In October 2019 the airport became a regional airport and took its current name. International flights are permitted, but long-haul flights are not.

The single runway, 06/24, has a bitumen surface and measures 1,560 m by 46 m after an extension from 1,070 m to suit 60-seat aircraft. Charter flights to Colombo Ratmalana have been run by Air Senok, FitsAir, Helitours and Serendib Airways. The flight to Colombo takes about 50 minutes, against roughly seven hours by road.