Chennai-Jaffna air link to resume after two years on December 12

After a gap of over two years, Alliance Air will resume flight operations between southern metropolis and Jaffna, the capital city of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated northern province, from December 12.

The direct flight service will operate four times a week, sources at the Chennai Airport said, adding that the onward flight will take off at 9.25 am to land in Jaffna at 10.50 am. On the return journey, the flight will take off from Jaffna at 11.50 am to land in Chennai at 1.15 pm.

The resumption of the direct flight service between the two cities is significant as Alliance Air was the first international aircraft carrier to land at the brand-new Jaffna airport in 2019.

The services were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdown.

The resumption of air link between Chennai and Jaffna is a major leap in the efforts by India and Sri Lanka to boost its alliance with the close neighbours. The flight service is expected to enhance trade and business in Jaffna peninsula.

Jaffna and Chennai are geographically, historically and culturally close to each other and a direct flight would help Sri Lankan diaspora in India avoid Colombo.

Currently, they have to fly to Colombo and take another flight or travel by road or rail to reach the far-away northern province. The flying time between Chennai and Jaffna will be close to 90 minutes.

Air Ceylon, the erstwhile national carrier of Sri Lanka, had operated flights from Jaffna to Chennai and Tiruchirapalli till the 1970s. In fact, Air Ceylon’s first international flight was from Colombo to Chennai with a stopover in Jaffna.

Once the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) turned into a full-fledged war in the late 1970s, the Jaffna airport, which was constructed during World War II, was converted into a strategic airbase that helped the Sri Lankan Army mount offensive against the now defunct LTTE and airdrop supplies to its forces. The airbase was also used extensively by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) for transportation of its men to and from Jaffna.

An airbase till the end of the war, domestic flights from Jaffna to Colombo began in 2012 and efforts to convert the domestic airport into international fructified only now. The airport runway has now been extended from 950 metres to 1,400 metres and would further be extended up to 2,300 metres.