Jaffna Airport Marks a Big Year In 2025

Sri Lanka’s Jaffna International Airport (JIA) marked its best performance during the year 2025.

The JIA Jaffna attracted 1,138 international air-crafts during the year, thus recording a 53,443 passenger movements.

This is a boost for the Palaly Airport, which is now known as the Jaffna International Airport, which was struggled to gain ground since its inception in 1947.

Continuing on the promise, during January this year, the Airport handled 5 aircrafts on a single day.

“Today Jaffna International Airport (JIA) marked another historic milestone by handling the highest number of aircraft movements in a single day,” the Airport said in its social accounts.

Two international IndiGo flights and 5 domestic commercial flights operated by Cinnamon Air and DP Aviation. Has been handled by the JIA team on that day.

Early Stages

The Palaly Airport was first built as an Royal Airforce base during the Second World War and was taken over by the Civil Aviation Department after the war.

The first international flight operated from Ratamala to Jaffna and on to Chennai in December 1947.

It was a perfect setting to establish a fully-fledged international airport in the North most point of the country focusing on nearby markets, especially Tamil-Nadu cities as the base point.

But, fate had other plans for this Northern Airport, which is significantly very close to the India and its airports.

When Tamil Militancy grew in the Northern province, it was converted into an Sri Lanka Air Force base in 1976, and maintained the status right through-out the separatist war.

2019 – New Beginning

With the end of the civil war and military defeat of the LTTE, the Sri Lankan Government started restoring the Palali Airport to international status in 2019.

The first flight from Chennai arrived at the re-opening, an Air India Alliance fleet and carried Airline officials from India.

Since then, the airport is trying to bring in new aircrafts in order to boost businesses.