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Air Marshal R. A. Udeni P. Rajapaksa RSP & two Bars, VSV, USP is a senior Sri Lanka Air Force officer and pilot currently serving as Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force since June 2023. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Air Force , Director Air Operations, Base Commander SLAF Katunayake and Commandant of the Air Force ...
A third international airport [7] for Sri Lanka outside Colombo was considered for various reasons. Congestion was increasing at Bandaranaike International Airport, and an alternate airport was desired. [8] [9] In addition, the Rajapaksa government wanted to revitalise the tourism industry following the Sri Lankan Civil War.
April 12, 1971, a Jet Provost of the Royal Ceylon Air Force crashed in Trincomalee killing its pilot. [6] [4]November 15, 1978, the Icelandic Airlines Flight 001 a Douglas DC-8 crash on approach to Colombo International Airport, killed 8 of the 13 Icelandic crew members, 5 reserve crew members and 170 (mostly Indonesian) out of a total of 262 passengers and crew.
Wijesinghe did not elaborate on what caused the crash but said air force commander Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa has appointed a special investigation committee to probe the incident. Sri Lanka uses ...
The professional head of the air force is the Commander of the Air Force, as of 2023 Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa who reports directly to the Minister of Defence. The Commander of the Air Force exercises operational and administrative control of the air force from the Air Force Headquarters within the Defence Headquarters complex in Akuregoda.
The Commander of the Air Force is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Air Force. The current Commander of the Air Force is Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. It is a position comparable to that of Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Force. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force acts as a deputy commander within the command structure.
The airport was one of the key sites identified for the development of an international airport, [3] and was to be renamed to Weerawila Airport. The project was later scrapped and finally moved to Mattala, inaugurating under the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport title in early 2013.
Air Vice Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa [59] In 1956, with the departure of the RAF from RAF Negombo, the Royal Ceylon Air Force took over and renamed the station RCAF Katunayake. With the construction of the Bandaranaike International Airport, a major portion of the air base was taken over.