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by Ranil Wijayapala

The number of daily flights between Colombo (Ratmalana) and Jaffna (Palaly) has been increased to four to meet the increasing civilian demand for travel to Jaffna, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka Air Force told the Daily News yesterday.

He said that during the Thaipongal week the number of civilian flights increased from two to four on the request of the Government and five flights were operated on some days.

Due to the increase in the number of flights, nearly 400 people travel between the two cities daily. However, the number of flights will depend on the number of passengers per day as 48 passengers can board one flight, the spokesman added.

The increased number of flights is a great relief for the civilians as Jaffna is still inaccessible by sea and land.

Defence and Civil Aviation Minister Tilak Marapone told a press conference last week that private air operators will soon be given permission to restart flights between Colombo and Jaffna.

The government is also exploring the possibility of reducing the air fare from the present Rs.6000 along with the resumption of private domestic flights in addition to the flights operated by the SLAF.

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