Sri Lanka Transportation - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 3 (2020)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 34

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 5,882,376 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 436.2 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

4R

Airports

18 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

11

note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

7

note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports

1 (2021)

Pipelines

7 km refined products

Railways

total: 1,562 km (2016)

broad gauge: 1,562 km (2016) 1.676-m gauge

Roadways

total: 114,093 km (2010)

paved: 16,977 km (2010)

unpaved: 97,116 km (2010)

Waterways

160 km (2012) (primarily on rivers in southwest)

Merchant marine

total: 92

by type: bulk carrier 5, general cargo 13, oil tanker 11, other 63 (2022)

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Colombo

container port(s) (TEUs): Colombo (7,250,000) (2021)

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.