Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said, “The flight operations connecting the Maldives with South Indian destinations via Sri Lanka would be launched.” Several airlines are in talks with Sri Lankan authorities, he claimed.

Initially, a civil terminal will be developed at Jaffna to handle 1000 passengers. Overall, the entire airport will be developed in three phases. The airport, commonly known as the Palali airport, has been used mostly for military purposes; first, by the British Royal Forces during the Second World War; secondly, by the Sri Lankan forces during the civil war.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, a few foreign airlines were operating flights from the airport but that stopped since the pandemic.

There are also plans to expand the runway so that it could handle wide-body aircraft.

The government is taking several initiatives to boost tourism in the country, including relaxing quarantine norms for those who have got their vaccine jabs. Data shows around 10,000 tourists have visited Sri Lanka since 21 January.