Category: Aviation

Apr 28, 2013 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines will acquire seven Airbus A350-900 and six A330-300 aircraft to upgrade its product and cut costs starting from October 2014, chief executive Kapila Chandrasena said.SriLankan will acquire 10 aircraft from Airbus through a mix of operating and finance leases in a deal which has a ‘present value’ […]

Apr 28, 2013 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines has decided to acquire Airbus Industrie aircraft to replace its ageing wide-body fleet, a media report said. SriLankan lost 20.5 billion rupees last year but it had been getting annual capital injections of about 100 million US dollars though government bonds. SriLankan already has a fleet of younger […]

Apr 18, 2013 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines is revisiting the feasibility of re-fleeting in the wake of developments in the international aviation market, minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said.“They are re-visiting the entire feasibility,” Rambukwelle told reporters when asked whether the airline was going ahead with a plan to re-fleet the airline with new long haul […]

Apr 12, 2013 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka, a budget carrier had continued to hemorrhage cash losing 21.5 billion rupees in 2012, with losses since ending Emirates management totaling 58.7 billion rupees, official data shows.Over the last two years, SriLankan has received 100 million dollars in annual tax payer capital injections. […]

Apr 11, 2013 (LBO) – British Airways will resume flights to Sri Lanka from April 15 thrice a week via Maldives using Boeing 777-200 equipment, the airline said. The airline is flying to Sri Lanka after gap of 15 years. Britain is Sri Lanka’s second largest source of tourists after India with 114,000 visitors in […]

Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – A state-run SriLankan Airlines flight has suffered a bird strike at Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala after it opened, a media report said.The birds start arriving from around August during the northern hemisphere winter and leave in March and April. “Even near BIA there are two or three […]

Mar 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala, has started cargo operations, with exporters offered a 10 percent discount, state-run SriLankan Airlines said.The first 900 kilograms of cargo made up garment accessories left for Chennai. SriLankan Airlines said cargo from Mattala will get a 10 percent discount and carriage to Colombo […]

Mar 18, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the island’s second international airport in Mattala, Hambantota after arriving in a state-run SriLankan Airlines aircraft Monday.The Chinese financed Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, named after the president, can handle a million passengers and 45,000 tonnes cargo annually. Air Arabia, a UAE based budget carrier, […]

Mar 18, 2013 (LBO) – The opening of a second international airport in Mattala in Hambantota on March 18, strengthens Sri Lanka’s strategy to become an aviation hub, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. The airport has a 3,500 meter ‘code F’ runway capable of handling Airbus A380 aircraft. He declared March 18 as the civil aviation […]

Mar 15, 2013 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines said it will operate nine flights a week out of Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala, which is opening next week while its sister budget carrier will operate two flights. SriLankan Airlines will fly twice a week to Riyadh, four times to Male, twice to Beijing […]

Mar 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala is attracting interest from Airbus A380 operators, and the airport agency stands to earn more navigation fees from overflying aircraft, a top official said.Sri Lanka already earns navigation fees from aircraft overflying its flight information region, but industry analysts have said that the […]

Mar 14, 2013 (LBO) – Moves by Sri Lanka’s airport agency to woo courier airlines to the island’s second international airline was welcomed by a policy specialist who had been advocating such action.“While the volumes of air freight carried by these companies as well as others such as DHL and TNT are growing rapidly in […]