Airlines operations to commence on October 15 in Palaly airport

The civil regional flights operations service from Palay airport of Jaffna to Indian destinations and Maldives is expected to commence October 15 with the completion of the first phase of three development plan as major regional airport in the country, a Ministerial delegation which visited North said today.

Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation ArjunaRanatunga who headed the delegation to monitor the construction work on the airport said that the opening of the Palali Airport to the international community is a significant achievement, adding a new chapter in the Sri Lankan civil aviation sector.

He said that the current government has taken steps to develop the Palali Airport as an international airport and that it will be able to commence international flights through the Palali Airport by next August.Minister ArjunaRanatunga pointed out that this would be a great opportunity for air transport in the entire region of Sri Lanka as well as in the Indian region based on the Northern Province.

The total cost of investment for the Jaffna Palali Airport development project is Rs. 2 250 million.The Government will allocate Rs 1,950 million for this purpose and the Indian assistance will provide 300 million rupees.Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Mr. Sunil Gunawardena said that the this project is being implemented under three phases and the first 950m of the main runway, already being used for aircraft operations, will be overlaid in the first phase of the project.At the same time, the opportunity will be arisen to handle Bombardier - 100 aircrafts with less than 72 seats at Palali Airport.

The main runway up to 1.5 km will be overlaid at the second phase of the project.Speaking further at the ceremony, Minister ArjunaRanatunga said that with the expansion of the Civil Aviation Operations inthis airport, the difficulty of traveling to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake could be solved easily.