Sri Lanka Aviation

**banuthev** · 05-03-2023, 07:07 PM

Upcoming months are looking good Sri Lanka Aviation !

Coming months SriLankan Airlines looking restore the frequency of flights to their destinations.

Vistara looking to increase Mumbai-Colombo flights to Daily and Air India looking to increase Delhi-Colombo flights to Daily from end of Mar-23. Singapore Airlines is planning Daily flights to Colombo onboard B787-10 from end of Oct-23.

I heard Cathay Pacific is planning to resume passenger flights to Colombo from 30-Oct-23. Some one please confirm.

Hi umedha, Any idea how SriLankan is performing on MEL & SYD routes?

**banuthev** · 05-03-2023, 07:10 PM

Originally posted by Aaqib

Got word that frequencies to Chennai will be increased to a daily flight in the upcoming months too

Any idea why 4R-EXQ and EXR aren’t operating?

How Fitsair is doing on CMB-MAA route?

I can see Fitsair flying Daily to DXB from 28-Mar. Seems MLE & MAA frequency remains the same as 3/4 weekly. Please confirm.

**Serendib** · 05-03-2023, 07:25 PM

Sri Lanka welcomes first Bulgarian flight for 2023

Aitken Spence Travels (AST) welcomed a charter flight from Bulgaria to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) with 200 holiday makers last week. This is the first charter from Bulgaria for this year.

One of the leading tour operators in Bulgaria has partnered with AST for this charter flight operation. With further strengthening the partnership, this high-potential operator is looking forward to operating full capacity flights to Sri Lanka during the winter season, this year.

“This is our inaugural flight to Sri Lanka, and we are looking forward to promoting Sri Lanka at a larger scale. We are confident that our guests will enjoy your beautiful country, and everything will be handled well,” an official from the Bulgarian operators said. With more visibility for the destination, it is anticipated that potential clients will feel more confident traveling to Sri Lanka. Aitken Spence Travels will continue to explore new source markets by making significant efforts to promote destination Sri Lanka.

Aitken Spence welcomes first Bulgarian flight for 2023

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2023/03/05/business/aitken-spence-welcomes-first-bulgarian-flight-2023

Aitken Spence Travels (AST) welcomed a charter flight from Bulgaria to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) with 200 holiday makers last week. This is the first charter from Bulgaria for this year.One of the leading tour operators in Bulgaria has partnered with AST for this charter flight operation.

**SKYBUCK729** · 05-03-2023, 07:33 PM

Originally posted by Serendib

Arkia Airways is considering expanding its service to India and Sri Lanka.

Read more at:
https://travel.economictimes.indiati...669?redirect=1

Mattala ?

**Serendib** · 06-03-2023, 07:12 AM

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, or Treasury, will likely take over the USD1 billion debt that SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International) owes, and the government will soon start looking for an investor for the troubled carrier, according to Sujeewa Rajapakse, chairman of the state-owned commercial bank the People’s Bank.

Colombo to take on SriLankan Airlines’ $1bn debt - official

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/125137-colombo-to-take-on-srilankan-airlines-1bn-debt-official

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, or Treasury, will likely take over the USD1 billion debt that SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International) owes, and the government will soon start looking for an investor for the troubled carrier, according to Sujeewa Rajapakse, chairman of the state-owned commercial bank the People’s Bank. He provided these details without elaborating during a news conference on the broader issues surrounding the country’s struggling banking sector, after the Treasury had moved to take over more than one billion dollars in debt that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) owed to the People’s Bank, Ceylon Today reported on February 21. He said that the People’s Bank had stopped lending to SriLankan Airlines but assured that the state-run flag carrier was also working to settle its loans, Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times newspaper reported, again without further elaboration. In December 2022, it emerged that SriLankan Airlines had failed to repay installments for up to five years on loans obtained from local financial institutions dating back to 2016 and 2017. As of the end of March 2021, the total amount owed and unpaid was LKR71.62 billion rupees (USD210 million). It has also been revealed that the carrier has an outstanding USD300 million debt to both state-owned commercial banks the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank, plus USD325 million owed to both the CPC and Airport and Aviation Services Limited, the country’s state-run airport operator. No bank loan defaults In an interview on Bloomberg TV on February 28, SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall clarified that the company had not defaulted on any of its bank loans and had met the interest payments but had not been in a position to pay back the principle amounts - a debt the government is in the process of restructuring with the local banks. “The government is going through a process with the IMF, they’re looking to privatise many of the state-owned enterprises, and that includes the airline, and the first step is to find a way to restructure the balance sheets. But that’s a work in progress and we’ll have to see what the Ministry of Finance has to say about it. But we’re part of a national restructuring of state-owned enterprises.” Quizzed about the possibility of filing for creditor protection, he responded: “There’s no equivalent of Chapter 11 in Sri Lanka at the moment, so that’s not an option.” He added: “We have an airline that brings in, in round numbers, a billion dollars in revenue a year. Most of the traffic we bring comes to Sri Lanka, it’s critical to the Sri Lankan economy. As an airline group operation, we plan to make about USD100 million return this year, but it’s all going into servicing past debts and has very little to do with running the airline today. If we can restructure the debt, we have a very rosy future.”

**Serendib** · 06-03-2023, 07:22 AM

This morning, a SCAT flight from Kazakhstan arrived at Mattala Rajapaksa Airport with 190 passengers, while a RedWings Airlines flight from Moscow arrived at Mattala Rajapaksa Airport with 414 passengers.

Attached Files

**banuthev** · 06-03-2023, 07:35 AM

Originally posted by Serendib

This morning, a SCAT flight from Kazakhstan arrived at Mattala Rajapaksa Airport with 190 passengers, while a RedWings Airlines flight from Moscow arrived at Mattala Rajapaksa Airport with 414 passengers.

Good news! I can see A320 that came with tourists from Sofia via Sharjah last week.

**Haleef** · 06-03-2023, 01:53 PM

Originally posted by banuthev

According to Airfleet.com 4R-EXQ parked since Aug-22.

Hi Haleef, Any idea why 4R-EXQ and EXR are not flying?

EXR operated its' first revenue flight today to Male and back in Fits livery.

**banuthev** · 06-03-2023, 03:38 PM

Originally posted by Haleef

EXR operated its' first revenue flight today to Male and back in Fits livery.

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to see pics!

When they are planning to paint the EXQ and EXS in Fitsair livery and cabin?

**Azamh** · 08-03-2023, 07:09 AM

Originally posted by Haleef

EXR operated its' first revenue flight today to Male and back in Fits livery.

They might start LHR the way the they expanding

**Serendib** · 08-03-2023, 07:11 AM

Originally posted by banuthev

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to see pics!

When they are planning to paint the EXQ and EXS in Fitsair livery and cabin?

FitsAir Expansion plans

FitsAir began flights to Dubai last year and has expanded to the Maldives and Chennai since then. The carrier’s vice-president Peter Murray Hill had commented last year that it is exploring opportunities in several key cities in South India. Besides Chennai, FitsAir is looking to offer service to Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore, Kochi, and Madurai.

Initially, the airline had planned to start services between Colombo and Tiruchi in December with three weekly flights on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, but that had to be postponed due to operational reasons. The airline is also keen to launch flights from Tiruchi to Jaffna and the Chennai - Jaffna sector this year using its ATR 72 aircraft.

https://simpleflying.com/fitsair-fli...0to%20Dubai,ke y%20cities%20in%20South%20India.

**Serendib** · 10-03-2023, 06:25 AM

As the rupee strengthens, Sri Lankan Airlines is planing to reduce airfares

**Serendib** · 10-03-2023, 06:28 AM

AirJapan intends to begin operating flights in February 2024 and expand its network over time, focusing on destinations in Asia.

https://eturbonews.com/airjapan-plan...-asia-in-2024/

What about flying to CMB?

**banuthev** · 11-03-2023, 02:31 PM

Its good to hear Sri Lanka saw an amazing turnout at the ITB in Berlin this year.

Cumulative arrivals for the year are 234,547, which is an increase of 9.6 percent, compared to last year, he said.The Russian Federation, India and Germany are Sri Lanka’s top three source markets for tourists so far, in March, according to Tourism Development Authority data.

Any chance Lufthansa or other German Airlines flying direct flights to Sri Lanka?

Attached Files

**banuthev** · 12-03-2023, 09:16 AM

According Passride, Cathay Pacific is going to resume direct passenger flights to Colombo effective 30 Oct 2023.

DEP ARR Duration Via Airline Days HKG 20:05 CMB 23:30 5H55M --- CX611/333 Su, M, Tu, W, Th, F, Sa

DEP ARR Duration Via Airline Days CMB 00:45 HKG 08:40 5H25M --- CX610/333 Su, M, Tu, W, Th, F, Sa

Sri Lanka Aviation

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