Category: Shipping and Transport

May 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to buy 60 million dollars worth of locomotives and passenger coaches from China to modernise its Victorian-era network, the state-owned railway announced on Friday.Sri Lanka Railways is purchasing 100 carriages and 15 diesel-powered locomotives, technical manager P.P. Wijesekera told AFP. China’s Exxim Bank will fund the purchases […]

May 10, 2007 (LBO) – A senior Sri Lankan government official has suggested doubling fuel prices and scrapping free cars and fuel for government servants to solve the island’s transport problem. Road Development Authority (RDA) chairman M.B.S. Fernando also made the startling suggestion that he prefers keeping roads in their present dilapidated state. Slow Roads […]

May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s only international airport shut to night flights on Thursday in line with new security measures against raids by rebel Tamil Tiger aircraft, an airport official said.As the last commercial flight for the day left for neighbouring India, the authorities closed the check-in counters and the only runway at […]

COLOMBO, May 9, 2007 (AFP) – Thousands of passengers face travel delays and disruptions starting Thursday, when Sri Lanka’s only international airport closes to night traffic after a series of daring air raids by guerrilla rebels. Travel agents said several major airlines had yet to finalise their new schedules, leaving many travellers scrambling for flights […]

May 7, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has restricted domestic flights and banned amphibious aircraft from using irrigation reservoirs following Tamil Tiger air attacks, officials said Monday.The military banned Sri Lanka’s national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, from operating a lucrative domestic service of Single Otter aircraft using reservoirs for take-off and landing, a defence ministry […]

May 05, 2007 (LBO) – Emirates, which owns 40 percent of SriLankan Airlines has warned its main shareholder, the Dubai government, that profits of the South Asian associate will fall in 2007. “SriLankan faces another difficult year ahead and unless a solution is found to the ongoing security situation, there may not be a significant […]

May 04, 2007 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines is re-scheduling all its flights ahead of the closure of Colombo airport during the night, the airline said Friday. “Following discussions with the Ministry of Ports and Aviation and the Department of Civil Aviation, SriLankan Airlines will be rescheduling its flights to operate between 5.00 am and 9.00 […]

May 04, 2007 (LBO) – Heavy rains lashed Sri Lanka’s capital for the second day, putting large areas under water, while the authorities closed part of the main road from Colombo to the south when a section caved in. Weather officials say rain caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal may continue for […]

COLOMBO, May 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s international airport will close at night from next week following a spate of bombing raids by Tamil Tiger aircraft taking the cover of darkness, a top aviation official told AFP. The Bandaranaike International Airport would close for six hours nightly from May 10, acting director general of […]

May 2, 2007 (AFP) – Dubai’s Emirates Airlines said on Wednesday it would resume day-time services to Sri Lanka which were suspended following Tamil rebel air raids near the island’s only international airport.Sri Lanka lost to Australia in Saturday’s final in Barbados.“Following a review of the situation in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, Emirates will […]

May 01, 2007 (LBO) – A trimming of services to Sri Lanka by major international carriers is undermining Colombo’s aspirations to be a regional aviation hub, in addition to hitting the island’s tourist industry. Sri Lanka now has to buy expensive defensive equipment at a cost that is totally disproportionate to the size of the […]

May 01, 2007 (LBO) – Chamath Champika Jayalath was watching the Sri Lanka-Australia Cricket World Cup final shortly after 1.00 am Sunday when suddenly power supply went off. Waiting for power to come back, Jayalath was startled by the sound of explosions and heavy gunfire. Rushing out, he saw tracer bullets streaming into the night […]