New Delhi: India and Sri Lanka's relation witnessed another historic day on Thursday after an Alliance Air flight from Chennai landed directly at the Jaffna International Airport after a gap of 41 years. The flight operations were suspended during the decades-old civil war in Lanka.
CMD Air India Ashwani Lohani became the first International passenger to alight at Jaffna after maiden Alliance Air flight touches down.
A long pending demand of India saw the light of the day after Sri Lankan President Mithripala Sirisena inaugurated the country's third international airport, upgraded with India's assistance, in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province.
The inaugural flight with Indian dignitaries landed in Jaffna airport from Chennai to mark the historic occasion. The ATR72-600 short-haul flight was accorded water salute as it landed at the Jaffna airport, about 400-km from capital Colombo.
External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar welcomed the opening of Jaffna International Airport and called it a historic moment.
Reiterating India's commitment to continue people oriented projects, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu claimed that the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka have now truly touched the sky.
The government of India had earlier extended grant assistance for the rehabilitation of runway and basic infrastructure at the Palaly Airfield under the MoU concluded in November 2005 with the Government of Sri Lanka. Both sides have also been working towards operationalisation of regional commercial passenger flights from Jaffna.
The recent expansion of the airport along with setting up ancillary facilities has been done by the Sri Lankan government.
Regular commercial flights between Chennai and Jaffna are scheduled to start from early November 2019.
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