Category: Aviation

Apr 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines said it has re-started flights to London, Paris and Milan after European aviation authorities relaxed restrictions, and is planning extra flights for stranded passengers. “However, passengers should also call ahead several hours prior to flight departure to check on whether their flight is operating as scheduled,” the […]

Apr 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s controversial state-run budget carrier Mihin Lanka lost 930 million rupees in 2009, despite support from the island’s national carrier SriLankan, which itself made 12. 2 billion rupees in operational losses, official data shows. After starting in 2007, Mihin Lanka burnt up its start-up capital given from people’s money […]

Apr 19, 2010 (LBO) – Dubai-based Emirates airlines said flight disruptions to Europe had cost it 50 million US dollars and it was losing revenues from 18,000 passengers a day following volcanic ash spewed out of Iceland. Affected passengers could cancel their bookings without charge. The airlines said updates are posted on Emirates.com and to […]

LONDON, April 18, 2010 (AFP) – Airlines urged a re-think of flight restrictions as a volcanic ash cloud made Europe a virtual no-fly zone for a fourth straight day Sunday with nearly seven million passengers affected. However, the European Union presidency offered a glimmer of hope for stranded passengers, saying half of the flights scheduled […]

LONDON, April 17, 2010 (AFP) – Millions of people faced worsening travel chaos Saturday as a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, which risks lingering over Europe for up to five more days, forced countries to extend flight bans. France decided to shut the three airports in the Paris area and others in the north of […]

Apr 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run SriLankan Airline has not been able to face the competition in a liberalized air services framework and it has to be saved, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said. He said Sri Lanka’s opposition was now criticizing the government’s economic strategy using false propaganda. “During their time they made […]

Mar 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines said it wants to encourage more young women to become pilots with the national carrier, pointing to recent flights by an all-female flying crew. Sri Lankan Airlines’ lady pilots have “quietly revolutionized” aviation in Sri Lanka, with several international flights being carried out by all-female crews, the […]

Mar 24, 2010 (LBO) – A makeshift airstrip built by Tamil Tiger separatists in the jungles of northern Sri Lanka is to be turned into an aviation complex under government post-war reconstruction plans, an official said. L H Indrasiri, director, geographical information systems of the Urban Development Authority, said the proposal was part of a […]

Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to lift restrictions on private flying and open up her skies for recreational aviation to lure tourists after the end of a 30-year war, a senior official said. Dissanayake said they want to revive an ‘open skies’ scheme started in November 2006 in the island’s south […]

Mar 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned budget airline, Mihin Lanka, whose losses have been subsidized by government, said it has begun making monthly profits after breaking even last August. However, the controversial airline, which stopped operating in 2008 after losing over three billion rupees and leaving bad loans at two state banks and […]

Mar 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines plans to add more destinations and increase frequencies on existing routes as it expands and the island’s tourist trade revives with the end of a war, senior officials said. “Now we’ve managed to reduce losses. There’s a gradual rise towards profitability. ” The island’s national carrier also […]

Mar 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is buying six Xian MA60 turboprop powered aircraft for a state-run airline and air force, from China, a media report said. The aircraft are being sold by China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) finance by a government loan, Flight Global an aviation news portal said quoting […]