The upgraded airport in Palali will be declared open as Jaffna International Airport (JIA) today, under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga and Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The inaugural flight today by Alliance Air, a unit of Air India, will carry 30 passengers and the airline is set to operate three flights a week between Chennai and Jaffna, from November onwards.