India’s Alliance Air To Fly Its ATR Daily To Jaffna, Sri Lanka-by GAURAV JOSHI

India’s Alliance Air To Fly Its ATR Daily To Jaffna, Sri Lanka-by GAURAV JOSHI

Source:Simpleflying

India has always been a significant source of tourism for Sri Lanka. While Colombo has direct air connectivity with several Indian cities, another destination in the country is set to receive daily service from India – Jaffna. Alliance Air began flying between Chennai in India to Jaffna in North Sri Lanka four times a week last year, and soon, it will increase this frequency to a daily service.

Daily Jaffna flights

India’s state-owned carrier Alliance Air will expand its four-times-a-week flight from Chennai in South India to Jaffna in North Sri Lanka into a daily service from July 16th. Speaking about this service through a pre-recorded statement at a recent gathering of tourism, aviation, and travel experts, and tour operators in Colombo for the Indian Travel Congress, India’s aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said,

“Today, through this platform, I am happy to announce that based on increased demand and potential of this route, to amplify trade and commerce, we will increase this frequency from four times a week to daily flights, effective from July 16.”

Popular route

Alliance Air suspended the Jaffna flight during the pandemic but resumed it in December last year. Until June 2023, the carrier had flown more than 12,000 passengers between Chennai and Jaffna through this service.

Sri Lanka’s northern region is home to its largest Tamil-speaking population. As such, flights connecting the Indian state of Tamil Nadu with the region are always popular. A direct link with Chennai (the capital of Tamil Nadu) helps the local economy by boosting tourism in the northern region of Sri Lanka and bringing in additional foreign revenue.

These flights also benefit the returning Sri Lankan diaspora, who can conveniently connect to Jaffna from Chennai. The other option of landing in Colombo involves taking a six-hour journey by road or train.

Demand for more connectivity

Sri Lanka’s Aviation Ministry has invited Alliance Air to fly to more destinations in the country and increase the frequency of its existing services. The island nation’s aviation minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has asked the airline to consider flying to Colombo’s secondary airport Ratmalana, as a continuation of the same service to Jaffna.

Air connectivity between Sri Lanka and India started decades ago when the first air service agreement between the two countries was signed in 1968. This allowed Indian airlines to operate flights from any point in India to any point in Sri Lanka.

Today, more than a dozen flights operate between various destinations in India and Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo. The country’s flag carrier SriLankan Airlines’ Head of Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Mr Dimuthu Tennakoon, spoke with Simple Flying earlier this year about India’s contribution to the carrier’s passenger traffic.

Before COVID, around 15% of SriLankan’s total revenue came from India. This dropped to 10% after the pandemic, but India still accounts for most tourist arrivals for SriLankan Airlines and supplies many connecting passengers. Hopefully, the coming months will see a further recovery in air connectivity between the two countries.