Marking a milestone in the country’s aviation history, the Palali airport which has been upgraded as the Jaffna International Airport, Sri Lanka’s third international airport, was declared open yesterday by President Maithripala Sirisena with the participation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
After commissioning the airport, it was marked by the first international flight operation by landing a flight belongs to Alliance-Air, at the airport from Chennai. The Alliance-Air, a sister subsidy of Air India wishes to operate seven flights to Jaffna International Airport and returns per week.
The international airport, situated 20 kilometres away from the Jaffna city centre, has been equipped with a 2.3 kilometre long runway, which is capable enough to operate middle-size aircrafts. The Jaffna airport development project has been completed by the Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry within a relatively short period.
According to aviation sector sources, the airport was first used for military purposes during the Second World War by the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. After the Second World War the airport had been operated as a domestic airport and also as a SLAF airbase and military logistics hub until it was developed as an international airport this year.
The six-months-long first phase has been completed, and two more phases have to be implemented in the project. The first phase enables the operation of international flights of 70-80 passenger capacity to regional short-distance destinations such as Chennai, Bengaluru and other South Indian cities. Under the second phase the airport will be further developed to operate bigger flights such as A320 jets that will connect medium-distance destinations such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and other neighbouring countries. Under the third phase the airport will be upgraded with bigger scale development to be able to function like any other international airport in the world.
Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, Northern Province Governor Dr. Suren Raghavan, the Indian High Commissioner and a number of other dignitaries joined the President and Prime Minister in the commissioning ceremonies.
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