Sri Lanka Aviation

Sri Lanka welcomes Indian investment in Udan-like domestic aviation scheme

Sri Lanka seeks Indian investment in a new domestic aviation scheme to enhance air connectivity and boost tourism.

Sri Lanka is formulating a domestic air connectivity scheme on lines of India’s Udan scheme and is keen to attract investment from international airlines including those from India, the island country's Deputy Tourism Minister Ruwan Ranasinghe said on Thursday.

connectivity is limited with only four commercial aircraft serving within country.

The Sri Lanka government is looking to promote domestic aviation with a view to boost high value tourism. The government along with World Bank is preparing a feasibility report. Six airstrips are also being upgraded with government funds.

Udan stands for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik and is flagship regional connectivity scheme of Indian government.

“We are looking to provide government support to private airline operators in the form of a subsidy for domestic routes. We see a good potential for regional aviation especially to attract high spending tourists. Although ours is a small country, it still takes five to six hours to travel from one end to another and thus air connectivity will help,” Ranasinghe said on the sidelines of OTM travel show in Mumbai.

“Foreign airlines including those from India are welcome to invest in domestic aviation business in Sri Lanka in partnership with local companies,” he added.

Sri Lanka received 2.33 million foreign visitors in 2025. India is the largest source market for Sri Lanka and over a half millions visited the island nation last year. This year, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority is targeting 3 million foreign visitors including 7.5 lakh Indian tourists.

Ranasinghe said there are 190 weekly flights between India and Sri Lanka. Capacity addition is expected in summer with SriLankan Airlines planning five weekly services to Ahmedabad. The Sri Lankan government is also working with Air India and IndiGo to add more flights.

Apart from increased connectivity, Sri Lanka is banking on new travel products such as wildlife travel, whale watching, Ramayana Trails among others to woo more visitors.

“Tourism in Sri Lanka has gone through challenging times but we are back in full swing,” Ranasinghe said.

He added that the recovery from the December cyclone has been swift.

“All the stranded tourists were rescued and blocked roads were opened in 24 hours. This helped to create a positive impression,” he added

It was B-305R, and is C24Y279. 170 of them occupied means 56.1% of total seats occupied.

Wow good news. Had QF been to CMB lately? Don't think so

Thank you. Do we know what time above flight due to arrive at CMB on the 07-Feb? will be nice if its arrive during day time. good for spotters !!.

Hi banu, The A330 registered VH-QPJ just took from Sydney to Darwin and to Singapore 12 hours ago, will be making it's next flight to Kolkata from Singapore on the 6th of Feb, then on the 7th will continue to Colombo from Kolkata and will be on ground at CMB for 3 days and will continue to Cairo on the 10th of February!

Please use the below image as a reference! not mine, credit to original owners!

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Guys, Any update on the above? I heard Qantas A330-300 will stay in CMB for three days while the tourists explore the country and it before it depart to Cairo.

I also would like to know when Qantas A330-300 due to arrive at CMB? Will be nice to see the photos.

I really wonder why passenger numbers were low on the inaugural PKX-CMB flight? Aircraft operated the flight was A330-300. If i recall it correctly the aircraft rego is B305R and it's a C24Y279 seater.

Always the Bookload depends on the Airline Sales and Distribution of that route/sector, So my guess is, UL's poor Sales and distribution of CMB-SEZ sector.

Pax count was 170 + 13 Crew.

4R-EXS operated as 8D7 from MCT-CMB on the 31 Jan 2026. Its not active ever since 31 Jan. Is EXS back to Fits Air after wet lease ops with Salam Air?

Any updates on Four free A330-900s from Airbus for SriLankan?

Sri Lanka Court Orders Arrest of Ex-Speaker’s Son Over Airbus Scandal

In 2012–2013, a proposal was made to retire 13 existing aircraft from the SriLankan Airlines fleet and replace them with 14 brand‑new planes.

As part of this plan, SriLankan Airlines signed an agreement with the French manufacturer Airbus to purchase six A330s and four A350s.

A major fraud linked to this transaction came to light in January 2020, after an investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office, which exposed alarming details.

It was revealed that Airbus had agreed to pay a US$16.84 million bribe in connection with the purchase of the 10 aircraft.

Investigators found that US$2 million from this amount had been transferred to an account belonging to a company in Brunei operated by the wife of then‑CEO Kapila Chandrasena.

Qantas due to visit Colombo this week. Does any one know what flight number will be used? So we can track the flight.

ALH back in service

I have flown with Air SEZ a few times, and economy was fully booked. If UL stopped operating due to poor route performance, why are other airlines doing well on the same route?