Flights at Sri Lanka's only international airport picked up today, but schedules were still in tatters two days after an attack by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels.
The attack on Colombo International Airport destroyed three airplanes and left thousands of tourists stranded.
Airport officials said flights from airlines other than the national carrier had started to arrive.
" We had a Qatar Airlines flight this morning and a PIA [Pakistan International Airline] flight will land later today", said an airport official.He said schedules were still being drawn up after the suicide attack by rebels that killed 20.
Officials said it would take several days to clear the backlog of about 2,000 tourists who were affected by the attack.
Although Colombo and the airport area, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the capital, began returning to normal today, a search was still going on for any Tamil Tiger rebels who may have escaped after the attack.
In addition to the three destroyed planes, SriLankan Airlines had three other Airbuses damaged, cutting its fleet in half.
SriLanka Airlines chief executive Mr Peter Hill said the next week would be a challenge. "We'll have to cobble schedules together and see how it goes", he told Reuters.
Tourism officials have been urged to start campaigns to try to reduce the fallout from stories of passengers caught up in the attack and images of charred planes that will further damage the island's tourist industry.
The United States and Britain have already adivised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the island.