World War II During
World War II the British
Royal Air Force built an airfield on of land in
Palaly near
Kankesanthurai in northern
Ceylon. The airfield's
runway was around long. A number of RAF squadrons (
160,
203,
292,
354) and
air-sea rescue units were stationed at the airfield during and immediately after the war. The airfield was abandoned after the war and taken over by the
Department of Civil Aviation. After
independence the airport provided
domestic flights to
Colombo (Ratmalana) and
Trincomalee, and international flights to
south India (Madras and
Tiruchirappalli). Locals used the airport when visiting south India for cultural, educational and religious reasons while local politicians and officials used the airport for travelling to Colombo. On 5 October 1987 around a
dozen members of the rebel
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whom the
Sri Lankan military were going to fly to Colombo to face criminal charges related to killing rival
Tamil militants,
committed suicide on the tarmac at Palaly airport by consuming
cyanide capsules. Among the dead were two senior LTTE commanders - Kumarappa (Jaffna commander) and Pulendran (Trincomalee commander). In 1989, as the IPKF were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, paramilitaries belonging to Indian backed groups such as the
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front escaped to Colombo via Palaly airport. Between 1990 and 1995 this High Security Zone was the only government controlled territory on the
Valikamam region. After the Valikamam was recaptured by the Sri Lankan military in 1995 the airport served as a vital link to the rest of the country as the land route was controlled by the LTTE. The SLAF then started a regular service between Palaly and Colombo. Lionair had a profitable monopoly until March 1998 when Monara Airlines started flights on the same route. Monara suspended its services on 16 September 1998 after receiving threats from the LTTE for carrying military personnel. On 29 September 1998
Lionair Flight 602 left the airport around 1.48pm bound for Ratmalana Airport. At 2.10 pm it was reported missing. Locals reported seeing the plane plunge into the sea near
Iranaitivu, north of
Mannar. All 55 on board were killed. The LTTE was accused of shooting down the flight. Following the Norwegian facilitated ceasefire, civilian flights resumed from Palaly in June 2002 when
ExpoAir started operating flights between Palaly and Ratmalana. The flights became very popular and at its peak ExpoAir was operating four flights a day using two 52-seater
Fokker F27-500 planes.
Post-civil war ExpoAir suspended services in 2010 due to a drop in demand but services resumed again in January 2012. The airline operated two return flights a day using a 12-seater
Cessna Grand Caravan. In 2014
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP
Mavai Senathirajah, who is from nearby
Maviddapuram, appealed to the Indian
consul in
Jaffna to upgrade Palaly Airport. The appeal was forwarded to the
Government of India, and after approval by the
Prime Minister of India, negotiations began with the
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). Detailed plans were drawn up but the
Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAA), fearing that any direct
international flights to Palaly would cause
Bandaranaike International Airport's income to fall, denied permission. Redevelopment of the airport began in July 2019 with the extension of the runway from 950 metres to 1,400 metres (phase 1), allowing it to handle aircraft with a seating capacity of up to 75. The
Road Development Authority was given the task of constructing the new
apron,
taxiway and roads and overlaying the runway. The
state-owned Airport and Aviation Services (AAS) were responsible for constructing the
control tower, terminal building, fire brigade facilities, office complex and air navigation systems. AAS were appointed operator of the civilian side of the airport. The arrival of an
Alliance Air ATR 72-600 aircraft from Chennai carrying airline officials and journalists signalled the inauguration of Sri Lanka's third international airport. This was also Alliance Air's first overseas flight. Alliance Air was expected to run scheduled flights from Chennai to Jaffna three times a week from 1 November 2019. However, on 1 November 2019 the CAA announced that the flights would begin on 10 November 2019. Alliance Air commenced thrice weekly flights from Chennai to Jaffna on 11 November 2019.
FitsAir had said that they would operate
charter flights to Chennai from 8 November 2019 and charter flights to
Tiruchirappalli International Airport from 10 November 2019. Flights to
Maldives have also been mooted. ==Airlines and destinations==