Alliance Air to begin Chennai-Jaffna commercial service from

: Alliance Air, the Air India subsidiary, is all set to commence commercial flight operations between Chennai and Jaffna later this month.

The airline formally launched its inaugural international flight last month between the two cities.

Alliance Air currently serves 53 destinations within India and Jaffna would be the 54th, besides becoming the first international addition to the airline.

The company had earlier announced that it would launch the operations from November 1, 2019.

However, an official told PTI that the launch of the service was set for November 11 due to delay in completion of paperwork and other formalities.

The airline said direct flight operations connecting the two destinations would commence on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from November 11.

During the inaugural flight between Chennai and Jaffna on October 17, Air India Chief Ashwani Lohani had said it was a major thing for Allaince Air.

"Beginning with this (Chennai-Jaffna route), Alliance Air can connect with nearby countries like SAARC region", he had said.

Alliance Air CEO C S Subbiah said on Monday, "it brings us immense delight that after spearheading efforts connecting unique regional routes within India under UDAN, we now fly international, adding the beautiful Sri Lanka in the aviation ambit of Alliance Air".

"This will be the first non-step service between Chennai and Jaffna", he said.

Besides serving Chennai and Jaffna, the airline also plans to launch services to Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and other cities in Tamil Nadu.

Alliance Air has a fleet of 18 ATR-72 (70 seater) and 1 ATR-42 (48 seater) type of aircraft.