Category: Shipping and Transport

Apr.07 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will go back to five and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) from the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year of April 14, joining the same time zone as giant neighbour India. Departure and arrival times of flights into and out of Colombo will advance by half […]

Apr.06 (LBO) – Engineers of the Colombo Port are urging the president to speed up a project to modernise the port’s computer system, which will improve efficiency and maintain its position as a hub port.The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Engineers Union has appealed to President Mahinda Rajapakse to fast track the process of commissioning a […]

Apr.03 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has asked the Pakistan government to start a Colombo-Karachi ferry service and liberalise air services during President Mahinda Rajapakse’s recent state visit to the neighboring country, a senior government minister said. -Jayantha Kovilagodage: jayantha@  “At the moment there are three flights a week to Pakistan from Sri Lanka, and two […]

Mar 20 (AFP) – More than 100 US troops who were stranded in Sri Lanka after their aircraft made an emergency landing last week left the island Monday aboard a chartered plane, airport officials said. A Boeing 757-200 aircraft carrying 119 troops and crew was diverted to Colombo’s Bandaranaike International airport on Thursday while travelling […]

Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will push for an open skies agreement with India, on the sidelines of trade talks in May to liberalise service sectors of both countries.Both sides are finalising positions for talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with areas like shipping, tourism and financial services also making the list. […]

Mar10. (LBO) — The government doubled a cess on nonferrous metal exports in a move to keep down raw material costs of small scale brass and copper based metal based industries in Sri Lanka.A Ministry of Finance and Planning statement said Friday, the increased cess is as per an August 2005 gazette notification and under […]

Mar. 05 (LBO) – Two of the three airlines that were given provisional approval to start international services out of Sri Lanka have so far submitted detailed business plans, authorities said. The government gave provisional approval to three out of nine applicants that asked permission to start international commercial passenger services. Expo Aviation, Holiday Air […]

Mar. 03 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings said Friday it added local courier firm ACX International pte Ltd, to their growing portfolio of business. ACX, Sri Lanka’s pioneering courier operation commands around four percent of the island’s annual 1,000-metric tonne or million kilos courier market. “We roughly estimate the market is worth about two […]

Feb. 24 (LBO) – State-run shipping carrier is floating its own service to tap the feeder business in the Indian subcontinent and plans to tap commercial banks to buy a tanker later this year, top official said Monday. Initially, Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC), will charter two vessels each having capacity to carry 1,000 TEU’s (twenty […]

Feb. 16 (LBO) – Transport experts say more private vehicles are coming into Colombo despite a drop in the number of people traveling to the city. Fewer bus runs and appalling service levels on public transport contributed to the rise in private vehicles entering Colombo, former National Transport Commission chief Prof. Amal Kumarage said Thursday. […]

Feb13 (LBO) – Luxury car importers DIMO Lanka says a hefty 214 percent tax on high engine capacity vehicle imports has not slowed down sales significantly.Since October 2004 the government has repeatedly increased import duties on motor vehicles, now totalling to 214 percent on a new car with an engine capacity above 1800 CC. Duties […]

Feb 07 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chief warned Tuesday that the island would suffer irreversible costs if the south port project does not take off before next year. SLPA Chairman Dileepa Wijesundara told LBO that construction work on Colombo’s South Harbour project would not be delayed, with funding options expected to be […]