Hambantota International Airport (HIA), also known as Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), is the second international airport in Sri Lanka. The airport is named after the country’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. The airport is located in Hambantota, 241km south-east of Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo, and is operated by Sri Lanka’s Airport and Aviation Services.

The airport has the capacity to handle one million passengers a year and is expected to handle five million passengers, 50,000t of cargo and 6,250 air traffic operations per annum by 2028.

An automated fuel hydrant system and a state-of-art aviation refuelling terminal were opened at the airport in 2014. The fuel hydrant system is located within the apron and was constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) with a $7m investment. The aviation refuelling terminal and the 1.2km-long interconnecting pipelines were built by Dubai-based Amana Pipeline Construction with a $31m investment.