COIMBATORE: After lying idle for more than two years, the airport at Salem finally returned to action on Monday.

Ministers KN Nehru and R Sakkarapani flagged off the Alliance Air flight. The aircraft arrived from Bengaluru and flew to Kochi, carrying 16 passengers from Salem.

On its return, three passengers arrived from Kochi before proceeding to Bengaluru.

Earlier, the airport had only one service between Salem and Chennai operated by a private carrier under the Udan-1 Scheme.