Educated at Maris Stella College, Negombo; he joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force as a cadet officer in the second batch of pilots in January 1953.
That year, Fernando accompanied several other pilots to UK to ferry by air two de Havilland Heron to Ceylon acquired for the RCyAF.
In 1959, he was appointed Chief Ground Instructor, Flying Wing at RCyAF Katunayake.
Fernando was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Air Force in 1981, serving until April 1986.
[2] his tenure saw the expansion of the Air Force with the onset of the Sri Lankan Civil War.