President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared Jaffna International Airport open yesterday.
The airport, formerly known as Palaly airport, landed its inaugural flight from Chennai, Tamil Nadu at its opening ceremony. Alliance Air will operate seven flights a week from Chennai to Palaly. Daily air operations will begin in November.
The Sri Lankan military occupied the airport and was used as an air force base for its fleets of jets which were extensively used in bombing raids throughout the armed conflict.
While the military has allowed for commercial flights, the area remains under a High Security Zone occupied by the military.
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