(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Sri Lanka’s third international airport, the Jaffna International Airport (JIA), was declared open today.
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were the chief guests at the opening ceremony.
Transport Minister Arjuna Ranatunga and several other Ministers also attended the event.
Alliance Air from India was the first flight to land at the new international airport.
Alliance Air is to operate 7 flights a week from Chennai to Palaly and Batticaloa in Sri Lanka with its ATR 72-600 airplanes.
The airport, situated 20 KMs from the Jaffna City, has been equipped with a 2.3 KM long runway.
Sri Lanka’s first international airport is the Bandaranaike International Airport while the second was constructed with Chinese funding in Mattala.
India assisted in the development of the Jaffna airport which was earlier used as a military airport and for domestic flights.
