Koggala Airport (Sinhala: කොග්ගල ගුවන්තොටුපළ Koggala Guwanthotupala) (IATA: KCT, ICAO: VCCK) in Sri Lanka was originally a Royal Air Force (RAF) Station RAF Koggala. It is now the SLAF Koggala, used for domestic flights and for military purposes.
Koggala Air Force BaseKoggala squadron mechanics 1944
Prior to the Second World War, the lake at Koggala was used for seaplanes. After the Japanese occupation of the Malay Peninsula in 1942, the RAF needed a new seaplane base. In March 1942 RAF Koggala consisted of forty people, one PBY Catalina flying boat and no outlet to the sea from the lagoon. Within a month more than a hundred more personnel arrived (mostly from Singapore) and construction began on establishing the water runway and the requirements for a large flying boat base. (slip ways to take boats out of the water, cover etc.) and by the end of 1942 there were over 800 personnel at the base. It became the largest flying-boat base in the east. The RAF flew Consolidated PBY Catalinas and Short Sunderlands initially No. 205 Squadron RAF and No 413 Squadron RCAF and later on of No. 202 Squadron RAF, No. 204 Squadron RAF and No. 230 Squadron RAF. A Catalina of 413 Squadron operating from Koggala located the fleet of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo on 4 April 1942 off the coast of Ceylon. Two Sunderlands from Koggala rescued a group of wounded Chindits from Burma in June 1944.
PBY Catalina being flown from RAF Koggala, 1944
After the loss of Singapore by the British, the QEA/Imperial Airways flight from London to Sydney lost Singapore, its refueling point between Calcutta and Perth, Western Australia. It was vital to the British/Australian war effort that the flight be maintained at any cost, so an alternate route was established through Koggala. In 1943 205 Squadron reestablished a link, flying direct from Koggala lake to the Swan River at Perth, on what was at the time the world's longest non-stop air route. Using Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats each flight carried three passengers, and 60 kilograms (130 lb) of mail. At 28 hours, the flight was so long that the passengers saw the sun rise twice, and it came to be called the 'flight of The Double Sunrise'. The first flight arrived from Perth on 30 March 1943; the last flight was on 18 July 1945. The service was later taken over by QEA (now Qantas) and Imperial Airways with the Catalinas replaced by civilianised Consolidated B-24 Liberator and Avro Lancastrian aeroplanes.
After the war the airport began to develop as a land base. A tarmac runway was laid down and Air Ceylon operated services to and from Koggala by Douglas DC-3 Dakota aeroplanes. In 1964, the Dakotas were replaced by Avro 748 and Nord Aviation 262 aircraft. These services were terminated following the closure of Air Ceylon in 1978.
Koggala continued as a Sri Lanka Air Force base. The current runway is capable of handling domestic aircraft like the Dash-8 and ATR-72.
The Government of Sri Lanka expects to upgrade the Koggala airport to international standards as an alternative airport to the BIA. The feasibility study, by a U.S. agency, has been completed.[needs update]
koggala, airport, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, april, 20. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Koggala Airport news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Koggala Airport Sinhala ක ග ගල ග වන ත ට පළ Koggala Guwanthotupala IATA KCT ICAO VCCK in Sri Lanka was originally a Royal Air Force RAF Station RAF Koggala It is now the SLAF Koggala used for domestic flights and for military purposes Koggala Airportක ග ගල ග වන ත ට පළIATA KCTICAO VCCKSummaryAirport typePublic MilitaryOperatorSri Lanka Air ForceLocationGalleElevation AMSL10 ft 3 mCoordinates5 59 38 N 80 19 14 E 5 99389 N 80 32056 E 5 99389 80 32056MapKCTLocation of airport in Sri LankaRunwaysDirection Length Surfaceft m07 25 3 142 140 958 43 Asphalt Contents 1 History 2 Airlines and destinations 3 References 4 External links 5 Further readingHistory edit nbsp Koggala Air Force Base nbsp Koggala squadron mechanics 1944Prior to the Second World War the lake at Koggala was used for seaplanes After the Japanese occupation of the Malay Peninsula in 1942 the RAF needed a new seaplane base In March 1942 RAF Koggala consisted of forty people one PBY Catalina flying boat and no outlet to the sea from the lagoon Within a month more than a hundred more personnel arrived mostly from Singapore and construction began on establishing the water runway and the requirements for a large flying boat base slip ways to take boats out of the water cover etc and by the end of 1942 there were over 800 personnel at the base It became the largest flying boat base in the east The RAF flew Consolidated PBY Catalinas and Short Sunderlands initially No 205 Squadron RAF and No 413 Squadron RCAF and later on of No 202 Squadron RAF No 204 Squadron RAF and No 230 Squadron RAF A Catalina of 413 Squadron operating from Koggala located the fleet of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo on 4 April 1942 off the coast of Ceylon Two Sunderlands from Koggala rescued a group of wounded Chindits from Burma in June 1944 nbsp PBY Catalina being flown from RAF Koggala 1944After the loss of Singapore by the British the QEA Imperial Airways flight from London to Sydney lost Singapore its refueling point between Calcutta and Perth Western Australia It was vital to the British Australian war effort that the flight be maintained at any cost so an alternate route was established through Koggala In 1943 205 Squadron reestablished a link flying direct from Koggala lake to the Swan River at Perth on what was at the time the world s longest non stop air route Using Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats each flight carried three passengers and 60 kilograms 130 lb of mail At 28 hours the flight was so long that the passengers saw the sun rise twice and it came to be called the flight of The Double Sunrise The first flight arrived from Perth on 30 March 1943 the last flight was on 18 July 1945 The service was later taken over by QEA now Qantas and Imperial Airways with the Catalinas replaced by civilianised Consolidated B 24 Liberator and Avro Lancastrian aeroplanes After the war the airport began to develop as a land base A tarmac runway was laid down and Air Ceylon operated services to and from Koggala by Douglas DC 3 Dakota aeroplanes In 1964 the Dakotas were replaced by Avro 748 and Nord Aviation 262 aircraft These services were terminated following the closure of Air Ceylon in 1978 Koggala continued as a Sri Lanka Air Force base The current runway is capable of handling domestic aircraft like the Dash 8 and ATR 72 The Government of Sri Lanka expects to upgrade the Koggala airport to international standards as an alternative airport to the BIA The feasibility study by a U S agency has been completed needs update Airlines and destinations editAirlinesDestinationsAir SenokCharter Colombo RatmalanaCinnamon AirColombo Bandaranaike Waters Edge Colombo City DWO 1 FitsAirCharter Colombo RatmalanaHelitoursCharter Colombo Ratmalana Hambantota MattalaReferences edit Air Taxi Schedules Sri Lanka Cinnamon Air Taxi Schedules Archived from the original on 2016 12 23 External links editRunway 222 Group CEYLON FLYING BOAT BASE 29 11 1944 Leslie Tomlin s War at RAF Koggala Sri Lanka 1942 45Further reading editRichter Trevor 2016 Flying Boats Fathers amp Fate Woodfield Publishing Ltd ISBN 9781846831683 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Koggala Airport amp oldid 1089893240, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
