4R-ALA: but a few other countries, which are richer than SL, like India for example, just pull out a 747 when the President / PM on board ..

So does a few other countries .. keeping a plane for the Pres ? too much

It would be better to keep a 320 or something like that .. or heck lease out a BBJ like the UK PM does .. occasionally ..

well, in reality, I think the idea is also to have a BIG plane, like a 340, so it looks "BIG"

thats true @ ecureilx, but India or other countries as u mentioned are rich or in other words rapidly developing in comparison to ours. so its better we try to trim our losses owing mainly to the fact that our national airline no matter what serves some sort of a political interest.

In my opinion, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has to provide aircraft for Presidential/VIP Transport. Since SLAF focuses on civil transport they should get one A320 for our presidential entourages.

Gone are the days when UK PMs charter complete aircraft for their overseas visits, they travel via a scheduled flight, like wise maybe SLs president should do the same ?
I wonder how many passengers were put out by having one less aircraft available ?

Yes you are rite Banu, atleast they can use A320... the issue here When President flies he takes around 100+ pax with him .....

I remember during previous President's time, UL used to detour aircraft to drop off President and his entourage and then continue the flight to its final destination. On completion of the state visit again UL aircraft will fly to same location as a diversion and pick them.

I put a query to Air Asia website to enquire if AK plan to resume KUL/CMB. The response I received is "no plans in the near future".

I dont think AK will come to CMB, however D7 ( Air Asia X ) might be coming as a Maldives Charter flight with a layover in CMB. >>> KUL - MLE- CMB >> CMB -MLE - KUL ....

this is from close in house info iv heard ... waiting to hear more ... will keep everyone posted

I dont think Air asia will fly to colombo at the moment CMB-KUL - I think current there are 2 UL & 2 MH Daily basis.


Evan BA is not doing that good at the sector
216 seats 106 empty. almost 50%
05 Sep 2013/BA 2042/CMB-LGW/777/Y-Economy]

A B C | D E F | H J K
16 - - - + - - - [W]
17 - - + + - - + + - [W]
18 + + - - + + - + + [W]
19 + + - - + + - - - [W]
20 + + - - + + - + + [W]
21 + + - - + + - + + [W]
22 + + - - + + - + + [W]
23 - - - - + + - + + [W]
24 - - - + + - + + [W] [L]
26 - - - - + - - - - [E]
27 - - - - + + - - -
28 + + - - + + - + -
29 + + - - + + - + +
30 + + - - + + - + +
31 + + - - + + - + +
32 + + - - + + - + +
33 + + - - + + - + +
34 - + - - + + - + -
35 - + - - + + - + +
36 + + - - + + - + +
37 - - - - + + - - -
38 + + - - + + - - -
39 - - - + +
40 - + + [L]

[+] Available [W] Wing [L] Lavatory
[-] Unavailable [E] Exit Row [U] Upper Deck
[P] Preferred [|] Aisle

But UL is doing v well on those router UL 505 & UL 503 Both flights are full

in my opinion BA is not doing good is becoz 1) BA flying from LGW where as UL flying from LHR. 2) BA flying that too via MLE and not non-stop.

i'm not stating that i'm 100% right, may be i'm wrong, but these are the obvious reasons that pop into my mind....

I also think LGW wasn't the right move. LGW is touted as a holiday airport, but by having a LHR-CMB route BA could have tapped into expat markets in UK/USA/Canada and connecting tourists from North America and other parts of Europe... as well as catering for UK-based tourists.

Small correction, Malaysia Airlines operates 10 flights a week not double daily. As far as I know only SriLankan Airlines and Malaysia Airlines serving the KUL-CMB market.

Do we have even sufficient passenger demand on this route?

I think British Airways would be better served making their Colombo flight a nonstop from Heathrow. Sri Lankan has done well on this route dating back to the Air Lanka days, and flying from London's most popular airport would definitely be a better option I think. I am sure UL also gets a lot of connecting passengers from US and Canada who are on their way to visit family and friends back home in SL. That way, more passengers could easily connect from these North American destinations at Heathrow, seeing as all their North American flights are from Heathrow, not Gatwick. Also, the stopover in Male is a bit inconvenient for the Colombo bound passengers. Turkish on the other hand appears to be doing quite well.

this is utter bullshit, our president just visits some random place with a political motive and at the end suggests that the two nations should establish direct flights, honestly in which country does the national airline have to wait until the president says which route to launch?

why on earth then does UL have a chairman and CEO?, wait maybe just to warm a chair the entire day!!!!!!!

FYI where ever our president flies he says they are going to have a airlink but nothing is viable if iam mistaken please correct as i know following Destination they plan when ever he fly,
1.) Vietnam
2.) Philipines
3.) Kenya
4.) Tanzania
5.) Seychells
6.) Nepal
7.) Palestine
8.) Iran
Now Belarus - If he goes to Moon then will have direct link to promote better people to people contact......