Lanka Airport And Aviation Blog: February 2018

2018-02-27

SriLankan Airlines flight delays continue, travelers urged to check before leaving for airport

Feb 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka's national carrier, SriLankan Airlines issuing a statement said due to a combination of unforeseen events flight delays and congestion at the Colombo Airport are continuing and urged the passengers to check times before leaving for the airport.

The Full statement:

SriLankan Airlines regrets the continuing delays and congestion at Colombo Airport. Due to a combination of unforeseen events, including a bird strike which damaged an aircraft in Cochin, our valued customers have been subjected to great inconvenience and delayed flights.

We request all our passengers to check in for their flights online, to contact our 24 hour call center on 01-97331979 or their travel agent before going to the Bandaranaike International Airport.

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Airport and Aviation Services Will Hand over Mattala Airport Through SLAF to India

The SLAF comes amid moves to hand over the 800-hectare Mattala Airport to the Airport and Aviation Authority to be operated as a joint venture with India. Of this extent of land, three hectares will be given to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for storing of jet fuel and the SLAF is seeking 90 hectares for national security purposes.

The senior official said the SLAF request would not affect the joint venture with India. “The security of the country has to be ensured and hence it is logical to hand over a section of the land to the SLAF,” he added. The official said the SLAF’s access to the runway would not affect civil airline operation as the strip to be allocated to the SLAF will be from another direction like in Katunayaka.

The proposed joint venture with India is valued at US$ 2.03 billion for 40 years, with the option to extend it. In terms of the deal, the Indian Aviation will have 70 percent stake of the airport company and Sri Lanka Aviation 30 percent.

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2018-02-23

Plan to develop Ratmalana Airport to provide efficient international flight services

The Sri Lankan government has drawn up a master plan to develop the Ratmalana Airport to provide efficient domestic and international flight services.

The Ratmalana Airport, being the first international airport in Sri Lanka was operating as the major international airport until the inauguration of Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake in 1969.

The airport is located about 15 km south of the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo with easy access to all the main roads. It presently operates around 70 domestic aircraft movements per day.

2018-02-15

Sri Lanka probes corruption at national airline

The government of Sri Lanka ordered an investigation on Sri Lankan Airline.

Sri Lanka has ordered a corruption investigation at its national carrier, including the controversial termination of a management deal with Emirates airline, the government said on Saturday.

President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a five-member panel to investigate the financial transactions of Sri Lankan airlines from 2006 to 2008, when the deal with Emirates was ended, a statement from his office said.

Sri Lankan, founded in 1979 as Air Lanka, was profitable until the government of president Mahinda Rajapakse, who ran the country from 2005 to 2015, kicked out the Emirates management team.

The deal was cancelled in 2008 after Emirates refused to bump fare-paying business class passengers to give the seats to Rajapakse's family, who were returning to Colombo from London.

Full Article

SriLankan Airlines to add five flights to India

It is not clear that what are the new destinations but mediaindia published this article.

After Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Coimbatore that commenced operations with four frequencies a week since 2017, SriLankan Airlines has identified new routes to cater to the growing demand from India.

Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Country Manager, Srilankan Airlines, states, “We are keen on increasing the destinations and flight frequencies in India as the demand is constantly on the rise. With the new development ventures, we anticipate significant passenger numbers from our key contributors to inbound tourism traffic- India, China, Europe, Australia and Maldives.”

As India is the biggest source market for Sri Lanka, the airline already has a wide footprint all over the country. “India continued to be the top source market with 384,628 arrivals (up 7.8 per cent) followed by China with 268,952 (down 1 per cent) and UK 201,879 (up 7.3 per cent). In 2017, tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka reached an all- time high of 2,116,407.” a release by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said.