4R-ABP is supposed to leave the SriLankan fleet yesterday (22.01.2018) and was to perform its' last ever flight as UL110 on the 21st of Jan 2018. But it is currently flying as UL407 from BKK to CMB now.

Any chances of its interiors being refitted onto ABL or MRE? #WishfulThinking

An Antonov AN-124 (Callsign ADB2346) departing from Karachi is now descending toward Mattala. Is this the first time an AN-124 has landed at HRI? Wonder what type of cargo she is bringing in?

https://fr24.com/ADB2346/1035b228

Very sad to hear ABP is going to be leaving the UL fleet. Has it been confirmed? It was delivered as brand new to UL by lessor CIT in 2012. ABP is only 5-6 year old aircraft. ABM, ABN, ABO were leased for 12 years. I am surprised why UL didn't do the same lease period (12 yr) for ABP.

Did UL bought the cabin / seats seperatly from Airbus? I thought both the airframe & interior were leased from the leasing company.

AN124 has been to HRI previously : http://www.airsrilanka.org/showthrea...ll=1#post16906 ( Plane Spotting & Flight Report thread).

May be its delivering cargo for Mattala Port ?

Yes it is confirmed. Still wondering why they are sending away ABP.

Colombo the first city?!!!

4R-ALQ (A333) is inactive - can anyone here confirm why?

4R-ABP must be back in service as 4R-ANE is still in BKK since the diversion...

I remember UL mentioning last year that their plan was to replace the CEO (a320/321s) with NEOs (a320/321s) this year .

Exactly, that's why ABP is still here.

A second airline, Etihad Airways has taken to the Colombo skies to land its largest aircraft A380 on Wednesday at 10 pm due to technical requirements.

Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. Executive Director Johanne Jayaratne told the Business Times on Friday that Etihad’s A380 landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for a crew change and refueling.

Since this is the second airline after Emirates to stop over at Colombo, authorities were hopeful that similar aircraft would in future consider using the BIA terminal for their A380’s technical or commercial requirements.

Etihad had given adequate notice prior to landing at the BIA and was flying from Sydney to Abu Dhabi and was on the ground for about one-and-a-half hours, Mr. Jayaratne said.

Meanwhile, authorities have been in discussion with Emirates to carry out commercial operations as well at the BIA on its A380 flight with embarking and disembarking.

Todate, Mr. Jayaratne said that Emirates has carried out seven technical stops at the BIA and one commercial stop between their flights to and from Dubai and Australia.

In the meantime, Indigo Airlines was scheduled to commence flights on Saturday starting with 21 flights per week which is a first for any airline that commenced operations to the country, Mr. Jayaratne noted.

He explained that in this respect Indigo’s operation into Colombo was significant as this would cater increasingly to the Indian tourist traffic to the country. India generates the highest number of tourists to Sri Lanka.

Mr. Jayaratne said that they were also in discussion with Indigo in going forward to carry out a smaller aircraft of the ATR 72 type to operate scheduled flights into Ratmalana.

This would help the airport to develop its potential as a regional facility, it was pointed out.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180121/bus...ia-277510.html

Also heard that Emirates is planning and having plans on having a flight on A380 from DXB-CMB-SYD (or MEL). I don't know about this information if it is true or just rumours, but I can assure you that this info was given by someone working in the Emirates airline. Also great to see ATR send its' brand new ATR aircraft to Ratmalana! If so I could take some pictures of the inaugural arrival of it.

@haleef - any update on 4R-ANE?

and yesterdays UL866 operated by A333 (4R-ALN) to PVG upon arrival didn't come back to CMB today morning I believe (anyone here knows why?)

4R-ALQ is back in service (arrived today as UL282 from JED)...

ANE still at BKK as I know.

I don't think that it is economical for Emirates to operate CMB-SYD/MEL as it has to grab the market share from UL.
And this will directly affect UL's CMB-MEL route load factor and market share.

Sri Lanka gov't eyes Qatar as partner for SriLankan Airlines

The Sri Lankan government is eyeing a private partner for SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo Int'l) and held talks with Qatar to this effect, Daily News has reported. The authorities have, however, firmly rejected the idea of privatising the airline.

"I as the minister can assure that we have no intention of selling it off. But we need a good international partner to work with us. They will do the management but Sri Lanka will still hold shares in it," Sri Lankan Minister of Public Enterprises Development Kabir Hashim has said.

Hashim has met the Emir of Qatar recently and held "very successful" negotiations with the Qatari side. He added that Sri Lanka is currently awaiting a response from the Gulf state.

SriLankan Airlines is currently fully owned by the government. The government has recently successfully negotiated a USD200 million funding facility with Credit Suisse for the financially struggling carrier. The funding entailed a long-term credit facility of USD150 million and a short-term loan of USD50 million and comes on top of the government's decision to absorb USD702 million worth of the carrier's legacy debts earlier in 2017.

The country's flag carrier is expected to get new board within days after the previous management tendered resignation letters among the allegations of widespread fraud during the last few years.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Qatar Airways currently operates 37 weekly departures from Colombo Int'l to Doha Hamad Int'l, while SriLankan Airlines flies 11x weekly on this route.

Source:ch aviation