Category: Shipping and Transport

Cathay Pacific will fly daily between Hong Kong and Colombo from March, positioning itself to capture the yet untapped Chinese outbound market endash a key growth area for Sri Lankan tourism.Sri Lanka was given destination status by China last year, with the number of travellers between the countries expected to take off this year.rn rnThe […]

State owned Road Construction & Development Company (RCDC) has closed up, with all its employees sent on compulsory leave till end January.rn A liquidator has not yet been appointed to dissolve the firm, but a retirement package to shed its 2000 workers, will be rolled out almost immediately, RCDC General Manager, Mr. Sumanaratne, said.rn rnThe […]

A new aviation policy plans to open skies to fifth Freedom Traffic to make the country an aviation hub.The policy will be effective from 2005 when 3rd and 4th Freedom Air Traffic to the country will also be proactively promoted.rn rnAviation Minister Tilak Marapana said that they would encourage airlines to exploit this opportunity and […]

The National Security Council has grounded all helicopter and floatplane operations that were given the recent go-ahead, until further notice.ldblquote The Security Council has suspended helicopters and float plane operations and they are yet to get back to us as to when they can resume, dblquote Secretary to the Civil Aviation Ministry, Cecil Amerasinghe told […]

An annual 6.5 percent growth forecast for the Asian aviation industry has prompted the EU to set up a regional training facility in Sri Lanka.The EU and the European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA) are putting in a combined Euro 10 million to develop the skills of national aviation regulators and operators in South Asia […]

The Colombo office of Emirates has begun sales of travel plus accommodation packages for the ninth Dubai Shopping Festival, which takes place from January 15 to February 15, 2004.A range of competitively priced packages from Emirates Holidays, the leisure management division of the award-winning international airline, enables Sri Lankans to participate in one of the […]

The Western Provincial Council says motorists in the province have defaulted paying revenue license fees valued at more than Rs. 1 billion.One third of the 1.8 million registered motor vehicles in the country are in the Western Province.rn rnBut authorities have found that 375,000 motorists have not paid their license fees.rn rnTo bring them back […]

Initial bid papers for the Colombo Katunayake toll road will be on offer in two weeks, with an annuity based financial model for prospective investors, also finalised. Documents are ready for a pre-qualification round, to be open in two weeks to narrow down the interest to six firms, who will then submit full detailed proposals.rn […]

Middle East based airline, Qatar Airways says it will fly via Colombo on its way to Australia, picking up Indian tourists to fill up its flights. Flights to Australia will take off after rounding up bilateral aviation negotiations between Sri Lanka and Qatar in March 04.rnrnThe transit operation from Colombo to Australia is part of […]

Dubai based Emirates Airlines will invest US$ 1.8 bn into glamorising its new fleet of Airbus 340-500s as it revamps its long-haul flights.The service began December 1, when 14-hour non-stop flights to and from Sydney, Australia took off, with plans to fly to North America (New York) from 2004.rn rnThe new aircraft carry 12 First […]

Friction between the President and the Premier has pushed back a December deadline to offer private investors a stake in the Bandaranaike International Airport.Privatisation of the Bandaranaike International Airport has been on the cards as a phase three of ongoing expansion efforts, on the basis of a private-public partnership.rn rnThis includes expansion of the terminal […]

State owned Lakdiva Engineering Ltd. endash repair and re-conditioning arm for state buses, is to be put up for private investment, as part of the re-haul of the Central Transport Board. Lakdiva Engineering is entirely state owned, and currently operates a factory that repairs and re-conditions bus bodies belonging to the state owned Bus Companies. […]