Indian Cabinet allows Alliance Air to commence flying to SL

• Flights to Palaly and Batticaloa airports 

The Indian Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has granted an ex post facto dispensation to Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, to fly between India and Sri Lanka, a statement said yesterday.

A special dispensation is allowed for the interim period until Alliance Air deploys a minimum of 20 aircraft or 20% of its total capacity, whichever is higher for domestic operations.

India shares close bilateral ties with Sri Lanka and the airline plans to increase connectivity and expand people-to-people contacts between the two countries. Prior to this approval there was no commercial operation scheduled from the Palaly and Batticaloa airports.