Not too long ago, Indian regional carrier Alliance Air restarted flights to Jaffna in North Sri Lanka. The flight was welcomed with open arms as it serves a popular route from the South Indian city of Chennai. And now Sri Lanka’s Aviation Ministry has invited the carrier to fly to more destinations in the country and increase the frequency of its existing services.
India’s Alliance Air seems to be getting more popular in Sri Lanka. It had to cancel the Chennai-Jaffna service temporarily during COVID but resumed the route in December last year, much to the pleasure of the authorities.
But there seems to be demand for more direct connections from South India to Sri Lanka, as the island nation’s aviation minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, has asked the airline to consider flying to Colombo’s secondary airport Ratmalana. EconomyNext quotes him as saying,
“I have requested that the frequency be increased to seven day, and same flight to also come to Ratmalana, and if possible, also to Mattala.”
Alliance Air operates four weekly flights between Chennai and Jaffna. Siripal de Silva wants this to increase to a daily service, possibly extending to other destinations in the country. But it is not certain if such a flight would be allowed to carry additional passengers between these hops.
Clearly, Alliance Air’s flight to Jaffna seems to have enough demand for the government to ask for other potential services from the carrier. 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 make good business sense.
Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.
A direct link with Chennai (the capital of Tamil Nadu) is good for tourism in the northern region of Sri Lanka, bringing in additional foreign revenue to support the economy. These flights will 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.
Alliance Air recently received support from the Indian government, which announced a capital injection of ₹300 crore ($36.5 million). The airline has recently suffered from weak finances, affecting its operations.
In April, it was reported that around 100 of the airline’s pilots (around 80% of its pilot strength) called in sick, resulting in the cancelation of 60% of its departures. The reason behind the disruption was salary-related issues. Alliance Air pilots alleged their salaries were not according to the agreement, and mass leave was their way of protesting and making the management look into the issue. The government’s financial help is expected to help ease some of the airline's burdens.
Check out more Indian aviation news here.
Last year, the airline, which primarily flies a fleet of ATR turboprops, also announced the extension of its Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA) with the plane manufacturer for another five years. The carrier has been receiving the company's services for the last 20 years since it signed its first ATR pay-by-hour maintenance contract in December 2002. Per ch-aviation, Alliance Air has 21 aircraft, of which 20 are ATRs.
What are your views on this? Please leave a comment below.
The best of Simple Flying, directly in your inbox.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . You can unsubscribe anytime.
Loading comments…