President opens Iranamadu airstrip

The newly constructed Iranamadu domestic airport was declared open by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday. The Iranamdu airstrip, which was completely destroyed by the LTTE, was restored by air force personnel using their own engineering expertise.

The air strip, which is 1,500 metres long and 25 metres wide, is presently equipped to accommodate C 130 planes. With the opening of the expanded runway, Iranamadu becomes Sri Lanka’s 16th domestic airport.

Following the end of the humanitarian operation, the airstrip was reconstructed and declared open in 2011 for light aircraft. The improved facilities in the airport will promote the domestic aviation sector and provide access to the Northern province with the development of tourism in the area to contribute towards the present nation building process, the Air Force said.

Pix by Deepa Adikari