SriLankan Airlines resumes flying to Zurich

Dec 22, 2011 (LBO) - SriLankan Airlines began flying to the Swiss city of Zurich Thursday, the latest destination in the national carrier's expanding global route network. The service will initially be twice-weekly on Monday and Friday and would be increased in the future, a statement said.

The Zurich-Colombo flight will operate via Male in the Maldive Islands, another highly popular tourist destination where SriLankan Airlines has traditionally been the largest airline, it said.

The Zurich service would be operated on wide-bodied Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft with Flat Bed Seating, and Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment systems.

This will significantly strengthen our services to travellers in central Europe, which is viewed as a market with great potential for tourism to Sri Lanka, SriLankan Airlines Chairman, Nishantha Wickremasinghe said.

The service would serve travellers in Switzerland, southern Germany, eastern France and Austria, all of which also have a considerable number of expatriate Sri Lankans.

Zurich was served by Sri Lanka’s national carrier for a quarter of a century from 1980, but the service was suspended in 2005 d