Not for SriLankan but for Mihin Lanka yes

I do agree Mihin Lanka should try second tier destinations in China. But Mihin Lanka operates only A32Series so I doubt A32Series can fly nonstop on Colombo - Kunming which has flying hours of over 5:00. I think Srilankan is planning to operate the Kunming via Bangkok using Mihin's A320. According to AIS, SriLankan going to terminate the Bangkok-Mattala service from 2015. Mihin expected to increase Seychelles flights soon.

@ChinaEastern - Do you think there is sufficient pax demand on CMB-KMG sector for operating 2 airlines (MU & UL) ?

Srilankan Airlines plans to further expand China network © CAPA
Srilankan Airlines regional manager Asia Pacific Dimuthu Tennakoon said the carrier plans to expand its network expansion to China (dailynews.lk, 29-Aug-2014). He forecast that the number of Chinese travellers to Sri Lanka would double towards the end of 2014 from the more than 62,000 visitors in 2013. More than 62,000 Chinese visitors were reported in 1H2014. Sri Lankan Airlines has expansion plans to 15 new secondary Chinese destinations, he added.

OMG!! Srilanka now part of china lol... they should consider flying africa as well. good connection for china-africa pasengers..

I Smell Codeshares over here.... I highly doubt UL opening 15 Chineese destinations (secondary too).... Let alone 1 destination whcih takes ages for UL to launch a new route.... Im assuming some thing with CX/KA or does UL have any plans with China Eastern, Southern, Hainan Airlines or Air China via BKK, SIN,KUL,PEK,PVG and CAN?

I mean.. remember all tht Hype abt UL launchng flights to Canada via Gatwick.. In the end it turned out to be codeshares with Air Canada through LHR,FRA,CDG..

Name the international destinations launched by SriLankan Airlines after Emirates terminate the partnership agreement with SriLankan Airlines in March 2008?

CAN PVG DME and resumption to FCO and COK and seasonal services launched to CKG

Mihin to acquire three more aircraft

Shirajiv Sirimane (shirajivs@gmail.com)

A migrant worker at a reservation desk of Mihin Air. The airline is popular among Sri Lankan migrant workers and pilgrims

Mihin Lanka Ltd, will acquire two brand new next generation aircraft in the the next two years to fly to new destinations and also add frequency to existing routes. In addition the budget airline of the nation would also take delivery of their fourth aircraft a 112 seater, A319, next March.

Head of Sales of Mihin Lanka, Asanka Fernando said the new aircraft will be fuel efficient and will help to reduce fuel costs by over 15%.

“The airline has been growing steadily and last year over 4,000 passengers were airlifted.“We are also on target to achieve a half million passenger market by end of this year.”

Currently the airline operates two A 321 aircraft with 12 business class and 190 economy class seats each. In addition Mihin Air also operates an A320 with the configuration of 12 business class and 168 economy seats. All these are operated on a lease basis.

He said that the airline’s roll out plan also includes flying to undiscovered destinations where there would be demand from both Sri Lankans, leisure travellers and also from the transit market. “We are not competing with our sister airline, SriLankan; in fact we act as a feeder airline to bring in transit passengers from destinations the national carrier does not operate.”

With over 17 years experience in the airline industry Fernando said that currently they operate to Sharjah, Bahrain, Seychelles, Jakarta, Medan, Dhaka, Madurai, Gaya and Varanasi. The three Indian destinations has a stopover in Mattala.

Commenting on their route expansion he said that they would add Lahore in Pakistan from November 15. “This would be a thrice weekly schedule.”

“Out of the airline market over 65% traffic takes off from Lahore and we see tremendous opportunity to capture a large share of the transit market from this destination.”

In addition due to the growing demands from both passenger and cargo the airline will add a third frequency every Thursday to Seychelles from early November.

Fernando, a former Sales Manager of Malaysian Airlines for four years said their business plan for 2015 also includes five more new destinations, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Chittagong in Bangladesh, Kathmandu in Nepal and two other new routes in India.

The airline has a staff of 300 and he stressed they have 13 foreign staff members who are only paid for their to working hours.

He said that with the new vision of Chairman Nishantha Ranatunge, several new measures have been taken for the airline to generate additional revenue.

Fernando added that the airline was created to cater mainly to Sri Lankan migrant workers, pilgrims and the airline has helped the country to save billions of rupees that would have been paid to foreign airlines by Sri Lankans.

- See more at: http://dailynews.lk/?q=business/mihi....A9dLrNe8.dpuf

I posted this article from the daily news but I wanted to know if this is true as daily news tends to exaggerate. Can anyone confirm

Mihin Lanka is going to increase Seychelles flights from 2 to 3 weekly effective 28th October 2014. But I am not sure about lauching direct flights to Lahore and leasing an A319. However Mihin's Lahore flight still not been loaded in GDS or in AIS. If this is true- It's good they selected Lahore , which has good cargo demand from/to Colombo. A319 is a small aircraft for Mihin i think they would have leased another A321 instead. As far as i know, Mihin has plans to induct couple of factory fresh B737-800s in 2016.

But i saw an article that they going for 737s?

Zurich

@Skyliner - According to above news, Mihin Lanka is going to lease an A319 in March 2015. Do you know the serial number of the A319 ? Any updates on SriLankan's A330-343E , 4R-ALL , MSN1564 ? Delivery of 4R-ALL planned in mid-October 2014? have they started the assembly of the aircraft ?

We may expect the first flight of upcoming 4R-ALL every day now, normally around six weeks prior delivery.
Nothing yet on a possible candidate for a first Mihin A319
Cheers Chris

SriLankan law says that each airline can only have 3 different types of aircraft so the currently have 1 as the A320 and A321 go as the 'Airbus A320 family' and then the A319 will arrive in March followed by the 738 later on next year