According to a top minister, Sri Lanka will start flying from its northern Southern region to Chennai by next week. This decision will benefit the cash-strapped nation’s struggling tourism industry and give its struggling economy a boost.(Sri Lanka)
The primary source of Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange revenues is the tourist industry. However, the pandemic’s start in 2020 significantly devastated Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which was a key contributor to the country’s economic woes.
Sri Lanka will resume flights the next week:
As reported by the Reserve Bank, the island nation made $107.5 million from foreign visitors in November, bringing the total for the initial 11 years of the year to a staggering $1129.4 million.
Nimal Siripala de Silva, Sri Lanka’s minister of aviation, said parliament on Monday that flights from Palaly to India would likely resume by December 12. According to the minister, Jaffna and Chennai flights will be available.(Sri Lanka)
He continued, “There are still a few runway enhancements required. The current runway can only support flights with 75 passengers. In October 2019, the airport was given the Jaffna airport terminal moniker.
From Chennai came the first airline trip to touch down there. Sri Lanka & India each contributed money toward the airport’s 2019 renovation. Previously, Air India’s wholly-owned subsidiary India’s Alliance flew three times per week between Chennai and Palaly.
However, flight operations were suspended after Sri Lanka’s government was changed in November 2019.
Since gaining independence from Great Britain in 1948, Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis. Due to how poorly the government handled the economic crisis, there has been street protests against the government in Sri Lanka since early April. The IMF issued the $2.9 billion bailout program in September to assist the nation in surviving its greatest economic crisis. Long lines for gasoline, stove gas, and other necessities have resulted from a chronic lack of foreign reserves, while power outages and skyrocketing food prices have made life miserable for the populace.
