The Sri Lankan government is planning to build a third International Airport that will be constructed in Hingurakgoda as per the master plan which was drawn up for the development of Trincomalee.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the roadmap to develop Sri Lanka as the hub of the Indian Ocean will be completed with this master plan while also mentioning what was left now was for the government to come up with a development plan for Jaffna.

"When Sri Lanka was a hub in the Indian Ocean in the old days there were several ports. Today we have focused on the Colombo Port and Hambantota. Colombo will be important with the development of the Western part of India as well as the development taking place in Iran," Says Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"Ships which use the Suez Canal to get to countries such as Singapore go past Hambantota which thus makes developing the Southern Port even more important. Countries in the Bay of Bengal region will develop greatly within the next 20 years. Populations in that region will reach three billion by 2050. Therefore, we will have to develop Trincomalee as the Eastern gate."

The Hingurakgoda International Airport is in line with the vision highlighted in the plan to develop Trincomalee as the Eastern Gateway to Sri Lanka by the year 2050.

Under the master plan, Trincomalee would be converted into an export hub by creating a clean industrial ecosystem, which can add value to the already abundant agriculture, aquaculture, minerals and resources in its hinterland.

Trincomalee would also be re-positioned as the Eastern Tourism Hub, by increasing regional connectivity through the development of the Colombo-Trincomalee economic corridor and the establishment of an international airport in Hingurakgoda.

The region will also be converted into an eastern logistics centre through the economic opportunities gained as a result of the many Free Trade Agreements Sri Lanka has entered into with South and South East Asian nations, as well from maritime traffic in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.