A year-old ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels means commercial aircraft have resumed flying to Jaffna in the north after a break of four years. But they are so often delayed by ministers travelling on official visits that the service is doing little to foster ethnic reconciliation. One airline says it is bringing in a tourist charter plane next week which could cater for government ministers visiting Jaffna, so serious is the problem of planes being held up.

On Wednesday a Serendib flight from Jaffna to Colombo was delayed by two hours because a non-cabinet minister for educational services, Suranimala Rajapakse, was lunching with a local MP. Elderly and sick passengers were loaded on to the aircraft with no air conditioning or refreshments and kept waiting while the minister then drank tea with the Jaffna security force commander at the airport. When confronted, the minister, Mr Rajapakse, admitted this was the reason for the delay. More... Published: Thu Mar 13 20:55:51 EST 2003