Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport

Bandaranaike International, the only international commercial airport serving Colombo, is Sri Lanka's principal gateway and the hub of the national carrier SriLankan Airlines, a oneworld member. Located 35 km north of the capital near the town of Katunayake, the airport is the inbound entry point for the vast majority of foreign visitors to the island — a tourism market that drew over 1.5M arrivals in 2023 during the post-crisis recovery — and the primary commercial link for the country's tea, garment, and apparel export industries. A single 3,350 m (10,991 ft) runway and one main terminal currently handle approximately 80 routes to 51 destinations across 31 airlines, with capacity constrained during peak slots. A long-delayed second terminal, financed by Japanese JICA concessional lending, is under construction and will nearly triple passenger capacity from 6M to 15M when completed. SriLankan Airlines operates long-haul services to London, Melbourne, Tokyo, and a dense network across the Indian subcontinent, Gulf, and Southeast Asia; Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and several Indian carriers provide high-frequency connections. Low-cost carriers IndiGo, Air India Express, FlyDubai, and Salam Air serve regional point-to-point demand. The airport's strategic position on the southern edge of the Indian Ocean places it on historically important east-west trunk routes, although that transit role has eroded as Gulf carriers captured connecting traffic. Colombo functions primarily as an origin-and-destination airport today. A second international airport at Mattala in the south, built with Chinese financing in 2013, has struggled to attract services and remains one of the world's most underused commercial airports. CMB handled approximately 9.3M passengers in 2023.