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RAF Negombo, later to be named RAF Katanayake, was developed in 1945, by the British, as a major staging airfield to and from the Far East to replace airfields lost in Pakistan and India.  It was conveniently situated between Aden and Singapore and was used to serve the continuing demand of supplying the vast British Empire.  A further function of the unit was as a rest post for crews and passengers of aircraft in transit. 

Located in a plantation of 40'000 coconut trees, Negombo was selected as the proposed airfield due to its position being 19 miles North of the Ceylon (Sri Lanka) capital Colombo and just a handful of miles East of Negombo with the main Negombo Rail and Road network running immediately to the West of the RAF Station. The village just outside of the camp gates was called Kurana.  Although built as a single runway a further runway was planned in 1945 running parallel to the East-West runway along what was the 9 hole golf course but was never added. 

The airfield was primarily used by the Royal Air Force but other organisations also used it.  The Royal Ceylon Air Force was formed in the late forties and they expanded their air force by establishing their headquarters here.  The major civilian airlines used RAF Negombo/Katanayake as their northern mid Indian Ocean base.  It was used as a refuelling stopover and as a place where crews would 'slip', passengers were able to take a break and the aircraft could be replenished for the next leg of their journey.

On 1st February 1960, RAF Katunayake started its rundown as a staging post as RAF Gan had by now become fully operational.

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