Cathay Pacific to resume services to Colombo

Cathay Pacific Airways announced that it will resume its passenger services to and from Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, with effect from 30 March 2008. The airline will operate a daily service using a Boeing B777-300 aircraft routed through either Bangkok or Singapore.

Three flights a week, operating as CX703, will go via Bangkok every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Hong Kong at 18.35 and arriving in Colombo at 00.15 the next day. The return CX700 service departs Sri Lanka at 01.45, arriving in Hong Kong at 12.10.

On all other days of the week the flight will be routed through Singapore. CX711 departs Hong Kong at 16.15 and arrives in Sri Lanka at 22.45, while the return CX710 service departs Colombo at 00.15 on the following day and lands in Hong Kong at 12.15.

Cathay Pacific Director Corporate Development Augustus Tang said: “We are very pleased to be able to resume services to and from Colombo. Sri Lanka is an important market for both passengers and cargo and getting the destination back into our network will certainly be beneficial for the Hong Kong hub.”

Cathay Pacific suspended its operations to Colombo in April 2007 due to security concerns. The airline did a thorough audit before making the decision to resume flights and is confident that new security measures in place at Colombo airport meet the airline’s exacting safety requirements.


The news about the resumption of Colombo flights follows on the heels of a recent announcement about increased services to India. Cathay Pacific will add 10 flights a week to Delhi and six flights a week to Mumbai by 30 March. In addition, it will launch Chennai as a destination on 1 June, with four flights a week, while sister airline Dragonair will begin a daily flight to Bangalore on 1 May.

The Cathay Pacific Group as a whole will operate 53 passenger flights a week from Hong Kong to five countries on the subcontinent – Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – by June 2008.

Double blow for visit visa holders

Unsuspecting Sri Lankans leaving the Colombo International Airport for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on visit visas are been ripped off by a draconian new labour regulation that requires them to pay large fees to the authorities despite holding a return ticket.

The formerly unannounced regulation that came into effect two weeks ago has caught dozens of Gulf-bound passengers unaware, and most of them were off-loaded by determined staff from the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment who are stationed at the Colombo airport.

The new regulation states that all passengers holding visit visas and bound for Gulf destinations will have to pay a refundable fee as insurance to the Bureau. Failing to do so means they will be turned away from the airport, Labour officials with the Diplomatic Mission in the UAE said.

They say this was largely due to the fact that the bulk of those leaving on visit visas, are actually job hunters who do not return to the country for a considerable period of time. These visit visa holders on landing in the UAE secure employment but must leave the country and re-enter on their sponsor’s work visa. To do this they do not have to go back to Sri Lanka. Most of them leave for neighbouring Iran and return to Dubai where their work visas are then endorsed. Employment on visit visas is a punishable offence in the Emirates.

However the regulation is also confusing since it does not state the exact fee. According to officials the fee will be charged according to the category of those leaving. For example housemaids and other low-income wage earners will be charged less while executives much more.

However, the honest traveller will also be caught up with this regulation, the officials admit, while adding that the Bureau officials will have to use their own discretion when selecting those who have to pay the fee. However another saddening issue is that the low-cost budget airline Mihin Lanka has also cashed into the misery of the travellers.

Since the regulation came into force dozens of persons booked on Mihin Lanka and who were unable to pay the fee and subsequently off-loaded at Colombo had to forfeit their tickets as well. Mihin Lanka does not refund the value of tickets if the passenger does not make it on the scheduled flight. Enraged passengers claim that the airline never informed them about this regulation and as a result they were taken unawares at the airport. They were not only forced to pay the fee, but also had to purchase a fresh ticket. A single journey ticket on Mihin Lanka, Colombo-Dubai sector costs AED 600 (SL Rs. 17,000).

A Trico International spokesperson in Dubai which handles the bulk of the ticketing for Mihin Lanka told The Sunday Times that this was most unfortunate, but said it was up to the Colombo office to give prior notice to the passengers.“If this was not been done in Colombo, then there is very little we can do over here,” he said.

Article published in Sunday times.