Palaly

Palaly, also spelled Palali, is a locality in the Jaffna District of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It lies on the Jaffna Peninsula, north of the city of Jaffna, and is home to one of the peninsula’s main military and transport facilities.

The area hosts the Palaly Military Complex, including a Sri Lanka Army base and the Palaly Airport, a long-standing airbase used by the Sri Lanka Air Force. The installation has been central to security operations on the Jaffna peninsula since the Sri Lankan Civil War and continues to be a strategic site for military activities in the region.

In the post-war period, the Palaly airfield was developed to accommodate civilian air traffic and is marketed as Jaffna International Airport. Civil aviation operations are conducted under the authority of the Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority, with aims to improve air connectivity for the Northern Province. Routes and schedules have varied over time, with efforts to link Jaffna more regularly to Colombo and other destinations, subject to airline services and security considerations.

The presence of the military base alongside the civilian airport shapes local land use and economic activity, with service and logistics support concentrated in Palaly and surrounding communities. The site remains a key transport and defense hub for the Jaffna Peninsula, reflecting broader efforts to integrate the region more closely with national infrastructure networks.