Airport in China Bay, Sri Lanka
China Bay Airport (Tamil: சீனக்குடா விமான நிலையம், romanized: Cīṉakkuṭā Vimāṉa Nilaiyam; Sinhala: චීන වරාය ගුවන්තොටුපළ, romanized: Cīna Varāya Guvantoṭupaḷa; (IATA: TRR, ICAO: VCCT)) is an air force base and domestic airport in China Bay in eastern Sri Lanka.[1][2] Located approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) south west of the city of Trincomalee, the airport is also known as Trincomalee Airport and SLAF China Bay.
Originally built by the British and known as RAF China Bay, it was transferred to the Royal Ceylonese Air Force which later became the Sri Lanka Air Force.
History
During the 1920s the British built an airfield in China Bay in eastern Ceylon. The Royal Air Force (RAF) established an airfield called RAF Station China Bay in March 1942 with Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire fighters and Consolidated Catalina flying boats.[3]
A number of RAF squadrons (17, 159, 205, 240, 258, 261, 273, 321, 357, 648) and other units were stationed at the airfield during and immediately after the war.[4] The airfield was bombed by the Japanese on 9 April 1942 during World War II.[5][6] The airfield was upgraded to accommodate the USAAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress over the first half of 1944. After these upgrades were complete it was used to stage the B-29 attack force for the unsuccessful Operation Boomerang raid on oil refineries at Palembang in August 1944.
After independence, the British maintained two military airfields in Ceylon, the RAF station at Katunayake and the Royal Navy base in Trincomalee, and camps at Diyatalawa. The naval base in Trincomalee included the airfield in China Bay. It was opened to civilian flights in 1952.[7] All British military airfields/barracks and sites in the country were transferred and taken over by the Ceylonese government in November 1957.[3][8] RAF China Bay became RCyAF China Bay.[3] When Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka it became SLAF Base China Bay in May 1972.[3] The base was turned into the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy in March 1976.[3] The academy was made an air force base in January 1987 due to the civil war.[3]
Air Force Academy
The base houses the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy.[9] Established in 1976, the academy is where the Sri Lanka Air Force conducts its initial officer training. Currently there are three lodger formations carrying out training:
- Combat Training School
- Junior Command & Staff College
- Non-Commissioned Officers Management School
