Partially true, they are launching Maldives next week but it will only operate till February.

SriLankan Airlines today added a brand new Airbus 320 to its fleet of aircraft - http://www.colombopage.com/archive_1...19641564CH.php

4R-ABN

The news items itself is not accurate. Garuda and PIA is not in banned list anymore. (PIA had some restrictions for 310s and 747s - all cleared). Only PAL in the list from what author quoted. I don't see any conspiracy here. Once you get caught for one fault, you get flagged and need to comply 100%. Anyway UL has a excellent safety record and it is up to UL Engineers and QA to maintain it specifically for decade old birds such and ADA. Dragging MR and western conspiracy is definitely out of proportion as KFlyer said.

SriLankan Airlines gets new Airbus aircraft

The issue is, once the restriction comes into place, no new aircraft/capacity increment is possible until the recommendations are met.

And, there are ways to get around with it

Also for the FAA blacklist, the PAL 777-300ER not flying to US.

And anyway, PAL is short of capacity with their recent strikes and all .. and their efforts to rationalise routes with their LCC op.

As for PIA, there is some restriction in their flight, as does Biman, from what I remember. ..

Garuda is no in the list, but their air service agreements have not been reinstated, hence it is as good as banned.

BTW, the blacklisting stems primarily from the record maintenance, and to a lesser extent on actual safety - funny - yeah, but that's the truth .. and no conspiracy

The EASA is free of any political influence, unless they have some inflitrators there ..

EU & Sri Lanka strengthen air services

In a bid to strengthen the future aviation ties between Sri Lanka and European Union (EU) member states, Sri Lanka yesterday signed a horizontal air services agreement with the European Commission.

4R-ABN Pics



Source: SriLankan Fans Facebook

Sri Lanka airport crunch looming: official

source aviationlanka fbpage

"Where do we go from here?"

The BIA has only 50 check-in counters, eight bridge gates and four remote gates.

"At any given time the airport cannot handle more than 12 flights," Jeyaaseelan told a forum on logistics organised by the Sri Lanka branch of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

"At certain times of the day in a three-hour window we already have 16 flights of SriLankan Airlines and other airlines.

"It is a nightmare for both the airport and SriLankan Airlines as the handling company to manage this."

By December 23 SriLankan Airlines alone will add another four flights into the peak timings.

"So 20 flights have to be handled with a design capacity of 12 flights."

Off-peak times were not much better with about 12 aircraft handled on average during a three-hour period.

With the capacity expansion underway at the airport being ready only by 2016, urgent measures were needed to cater to growing traffic.

Jeyaseelan said the airline was working with the airport operator, Airports and Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, to find interim solutions to the capacity crunch.

"The bottleneck is that there are only 50 check-in counters," he said.

"At the boarding gates we handle about 15 flights in an hour when we're designed to handle only 12. At off-peak times we handle about the design capacity."

The short term solution is to add another five check in counters in three months and three more boarding gates by the AASL.

A building at the BIA where catering was done and which is earmarked for conversion as a domestic passenger terminal is to be converted for use as interim international terminal, Jeyaseelan said.

But even that may not be enough by the end of 2011.

Another plan under consideration is to expand the terminal into the garden area.

Thanks for the pic! Any more pics of the new terminal lying around? Any idea as to when it will be completed by?

Please find the UL/AC Codeshare flight timetables from this link http://www.amadeus.net/plnext/meb/Ti...EU&LANGUAGE=GB

But Garuda are back in Amsterdam which is part of EU, also PIA do not have any restrictions their fleet has been cleared but of late some aircraft have been held back in European ports due to lapses in maintenence.

EFF DISC MTWTFSS BRD OFF DEP ARR FLIGHT<
06NOV11 - 1234... LHR YYZ 0900 1205 UL2869<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<
- 05NOV11 1234... LHR YYZ 0900 1305 UL2869<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<
06NOV11 - .....67 LHR YYZ 1200 1505 UL2857<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<
- 05NOV11 .....67 LHR YYZ 1200 1605 UL2857<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<

EFF DISC MTWTFSS BRD OFF DEP ARR FLIGHT<
06NOV11 - ..3.5.7 CDG YYZ 1130 1355 UL2881<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<
- 05NOV11 ..3.5.7 CDG YYZ 1130 1455 UL2881<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<

EFF DISC MTWTFSS BRD OFF DEP ARR FLIGHT<
06NOV11 - ..3.5.7 FRA YYZ 1000 1225 UL2873<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<
- 05NOV11 ..3.5.7 FRA YYZ 1000 1325 UL2873<
INTL ONLINE CONEX/STPVR ONLY<
OPERATED BY AIR CANADA<

UL numbers updated..