Palalli to be upgraded to regional status with Indian funds

By Uditha Jayasinghe

Sri Lanka’s northern airport is set to be converted to a regional facility with India expected to fund the upgrade, an official said yesterday as an Indian technical team wrapped up its evaluation visit. 

A five-member technical team from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) based in Chennai undertook a visit to Sri Lanka on 16 and 17 March, during which they were briefed on the current state of the Palalli airport by local Civil Aviation Authority officials.

“We updated the technical team of the current status of the airport and they then undertook a visit to Jaffna,” confirmed Civil Aviation Authority Direct Athula Jayawickrama to the Daily FT.

Jayawickrama insisted current Government plans limit the Jaffna airport to a regional airport, which could have flights from the South Asian region including India but would not be an international airport.

The Indian team from AAI concluded that it could be upgraded without acquiring more land, and will estimate the cost of converting Palalli into a regional airport, he added.

Once the estimates are finalised they are expected to be forwarded to relevant departments of the Indian and Sri Lankan Governments. The Indian Government will likely fund the venture though details are yet to be discussed.

“Normally, airports are built with future traffic and bigger aircraft in mind, but if something has to be done quickly in Jaffna without raking up a controversy over land acquisition, upgrading the facilities without extending the runway is the best option,” the New Indian Express reported an Indian official as saying of the decision now to increase the land allocated to the airport. 

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in a recent interview had voiced concern over the airport saying resettlement and livelihoods for the people are more important than upgrading the airport.

The Government is also currently embroiled in a controversial move to build 65,000 houses with Indian steel giant ArcelorMittal. Housing experts and civil society organisations have pointed out the prefabricated houses are too expensive at Rs. 2.1 million each and do not have rudimentary facilities such as chimneys essential for typical local life. 

Local contractors are also lobbying to build part of the houses insisting they can provide dwellings to meet community needs at half the cost. The whole project is estimated to be $1 billion with ArcelorMittal offering a loan facility to fund the venture.