Hi everyone,
Good news EK will be deploying their new A359s on their EK655 to CMB soon, starting from 10th of March, after a delay of 3 months due to supply chain issues. EK will be the 2nd A350 operator at CMB after QR and SQ (SQ will join later this year).


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I agree with Banuthev that UL needs to increase their fleet substantially to take advantage of Sri Lanka's geographical position and offer convenient connections. With the right fleet and added frequencies UL could become a major player on the Kangaroo route. I think UL could become a preferred choice for travelers over SQ, EK, QR etc., given our location, which translates into two equal 10-hour flight segments between Australia and Europe. Travelers will prefer that to the shorter flight and longer 14-hour segment the competitors offer. But the hard product needs to improve and be consistent, and the airport has to get a major upgrade.
UL should also focus on becoming the preferred airline for travel to the Maldives. Maybe a flight from North America would work if it made a stop in MLE before continuing to CMB. This would make UL unique among the competition. And they should look into reinstating the MLE stop for some of the European flights - travelers will be willing to pay a premium to fly non-stop to MLE rather than transferring in DXB or DOH.
I hope UL can increase their frequency to at least daily to SYD and NRT. (But I don't think the current Australian bilateral allows for an increase in flights?). It is a shame that LHR is going from 9 to 7/week this summer. Double daily to LHR would be ideal but getting slots will be a challenge.
Additional European destinations should be considered - ZRH and AMS? And given the diaspora, a flight to Toronto should also be evaluated. This could be an attractive option to the south Indian community in YYZ as well.
With the right management and access to capital, UL could easily double their fleet size and be profitable.

Hi everyone, seems like Bulgaria Air has begun SOF-SHJ-HRI services on their A319s and A320s, I think this is a new flight. I am not sure if this is a one off flight.
Can someone confirm for how long they will be in CMB for? thanks

got that. It appears that I didn't do much research..

why is 1261 painted but not 1060? We had someone in this forum say that TEV does have painting.
what is the seat-config of the A332?

Heard test flight planned in Apr25 and delivery in May25. I requested UL for permission to see the aircraft but no reply yet. I might visit CHR if i get permission.

3U only leased those 4 x A359s from Aercap/ALC on long term lease (guessing 12 years) in 2018.

first, AIB needs to finish building 4 A359s. then they could start work on 4 new ones, It would be great if UL manages to fund enough cash to get things going.

buy-back from 3U? doubt whether they would say yes though.

4R-ALH is under maintenance.(If i'm not wrong)
what is the current status of AND?

I believe UL and CMB have to be developed and well managed to generate income and tourism for Sri Lanka. Since Sri Lanka is near India and the Maldives can make use of the Indian Transit travellers to transit via CMB to reach rest of the world.

UL better increase flights as below : -

*Double daily flights to LHR, SYD, MEL, NRT
*Single Daily flights to CDG, FRA, MXP, NBO, ICN, PEK, PVG, HKG, SEZ, MAU, AKL, PKT,
*Triple daily flights to Middle East and Far East.
*UL should have point to point direct flights to all over India.

UL better start domestic flights and develop domestic terminal at CMB to give quick transit for the JAF travellers from the UK, Australia, Canada. Sri Lanka also should start frequent slow trains from CMB to Galle, Kandy to encourage people to access the airport to get domestic flights.

I believe UL need 51 aircraft.

Guys, Please share your thoughts

MSN 1261 is getting ready for UL in CHR. Spotter said it's been parked front of the hangar since Jan25 and no visibility to take photos for the spotters. Any idea if it will be painted in SriLankan livery?

Airbus still shows four A350-900s for UL in their order book. If UL has the resources to firm up the orders, Airbus may be able to find production slots for these four aircraft.

getting either an A339 or a A359 isnt going to be easy though. both have somewhat big backlogs.
UL could lease[short term] some to(at least) get an experience on the operations of those 2 aircraft.
correct me if I'm wrong though,