resumed again in January 2012. The airline operated two return flights a day using a 12-seater Cessna Grand Caravan. A new passenger terminal was opened on 4 January 2013. In 2014 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Mavai Senathirajah, who is from nearby Maviddapuram, appealed to the Indian consul in Jaffna to upgrade Palaly Airport. The appeal was forwarded to the Government of India, and after approval by the Prime Minister of India, negotiations began with the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). In late 2015 GoSL gave approval for an agreement between the two countries to upgrade the airport. The agreement met with resistance from civil servants in Colombo who feared that any development of the north would be at the expense of the south. Some Tamil politicians also opposed the plans, claiming that any development of the airport would result in further acquisition of civilian land. However, with increasing pressure from the TNA, the Indian government decided to go ahead with the redevelopment. Officials from Chennai International Airport arrived at Palaly in March 2016 to carry out technical and feasibility studies and concluded that the redevelopment could be carried out without any further acquisition of civilian land. Detailed plans were drawn up but the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAA), fearing that any direct international flights to Palaly would cause Bandaranaike International Airport's income to fall, denied permission. By late 2018 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's minority government had become reliant on TNA support to stay in power. In return, the TNA demanded that Palaly be redeveloped into an international airport. In order to overcome communal objections from southern officials Wickremesinghe gave a commitment that Ratmalana Airport would become an international airport at the same time as Palaly Airport. The CAA agreed to give permission on condition that Palaly only serves as a regional airport (i.e. no long-haul flights) and that any Indian financial assistance would in the form of grants rather than loans. In the meantime civil society groups from eastern Sri Lanka complained to the Indian consul in Jaffna that Indian development work was only focussed on the north and ignored the east. The Indian government agreed to redevelop Batticaloa Airport and the Sri Lankan government agreed to make it an international airport as well. Although Palaly Airport had a 2,300-metre runway only 950 metres had been refurbished to a suitable standard for passenger aircraft. Redevelopment of the