Category: Aviation

July 05, 2010 (LBO) – The Dubai-based Emirates airline has started daily services between Colombo and Singapore from July 01 with the addition of two more frequencies to and from the city state, a statement said. Singapore remains one of the most popular destinations out of Colombo for shopping, leisure and business travel, said Devika […]

July 03, 2010 (LBO) – Middle East budget carrier Flydubai has started four weekly flights to Colombo, providing fresh competition for state-run Mihin Lanka, which lost 900 million rupees last year. Mihin’s single aircraft doesn’t always fly direct. Mihin’s Dubai-Colombo run is via Kuwait. After losing billions of rupees since its start and after briefly […]

June 26, 2010 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines has cut losses in the year to March 2010, and was looking to turnaround in the second half of this year, but may need financial re-structuring in the future, an official said. The airline is now saddled with Mihin Lanka, a loss making start-up budget carrier. A report […]

June 25 – Sri Lankan Airlines is looking for two Airbus A320 aircraft to join is fleet by late 2010 as it plans to expand the winter schedule amid a pick up in tourism traffic, chief executive Manoj Gunawardena said. Sri Lankan said it will also increase flights to India by one to 50 frequencies […]

June 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines had appointed two new directors from private sector firms to its board, and has re-appointed existing directors, the airlines said, with the government on track to buy back a minority stake from Emirates. The airline said it was about to launch a new service to Shanghai, and […]

NEW DELHI, June 9, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday began his first foreign trip to influential neighbour India since being re-elected, in a visit that has drawn protests from Indian Tamils. Rajapakse, who was re-elected in January on the back of a resounding victory over Tamil separatists that ended a […]

June 07, 2010 (LBO) – Emirates could sign the deal to sell 43. 6 percent of SriLankan, Sri Lanka’s national carrier this week, its president Tim Clarke was quoted as saying in a media report. “I was in Colombo last week to discuss the sale,” Clarke was quoted as saying by Emirates Business, a Dubai […]

June 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India should fully liberalize air services within the two countries, further strengthen links between them and set an example to South Asia, the head of the island’s state-run national carrier said. India then allowed private airlines to fly to Colombo and other South Asian countries. Sri Lankan […]

May 30, 2010 (LBO) – Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai will fly to Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo from June 23, offering one way tickets starting from 13,000 Sri Lanka rupees, media reports and the company website said. The airline is offering a Dubai-Colombo fare for 450 UAE dirhams (1 UAD Dirham = 31.1 Sri Lanka rupees). […]

May 19, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Air Force is offering services to transfer by air passengers traveling to the main international airport at Katunayake, north of the capital Colombo, because of floods on the main road, officials said. A 15-seat Y-12 light aircraft can be charted by groups at the rate of 55,300 […]

BRUSSELS, May 17, 2010 (AFP) – The volcanic ash cloud playing havoc with airline schedules will mean the loss of 1,000 flights in Europe on Monday with airports in Britain and the Netherlands hit, the Eurocontrol agency said. The cloud was however expected to disperse over the day, Europe’s intergovernmental air traffic coordinating agency said, […]

LONDON, May 15, 2010 (AFP) – British aviation authorities were keeping a close eye Sunday on the possible return of a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland after it forced the closure of parts of Northern Ireland’s airspace. The NATS said it was working closely with weather forecasters and the Civil Aviation Authority — Britain’s […]