Sri Lanka will resume flights from the northern Jaffna peninsula to Chennai as early as next week, according to a senior minister, boosting the cash-strapped country’s tourism sector and providing a boost to its battered economy.
Sri Lanka’s primary source of foreign exchange earnings is tourism.
However, the onset of the pandemic in 2020 severely harmed the tourism sector, contributing significantly to Sri Lanka’s economic woes.
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the island nation’s earnings from international tourist arrivals in November totaled USD 107.5 billion, with the total for the first eleven months of the year totaling USD 1129.4 million.
“The flights to India from Palaly will resume soon, most probably by December 12,” Sri Lanka’s Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament on Monday.
Flights will be operational between Jaffna and Chennai, the minister said.
“There are still some improvements to the runway that are needed,” he added.
The current runway can only handle 75-seat flights.
In October 2019, the airport was renamed Jaffna International Airport.
The first international flight to land there was from Chennai.
Both Sri Lanka and India contributed to the airport’s redevelopment in 2019.
Previously, India’s Alliance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, flew three times per week from Chennai to Palaly.
However, after the Sri Lankan government changed in November 2019, flight operations were halted.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1948.
Since early April, there have been street protests in Sri Lanka against the government over its handling of the economic crisis.