Civil Aviation Minister visits UAE

Emirates, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) based airline recently organised an exhibition relating to the field of aviation industry and an air display to commemorate the completion of over forty years of existence of the Emirates group. At this exhibition, modern technical equipment used in the aviation field and aircraft were displayed.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratne took part in the discussions with regard to the development of the Mattala Airport and also to make a request to United Arab Emirates Airlines to use the Mattala Airport as a destination. This meeting was also attended by Consultant to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Dhammika Attygalle.

Where was this photo taken?

skyline: from the LBT.lk site ??

Yes, indeed!

Mihin Lanka was awarded the ‘Budget Airline of the Year-2011’ prize following Bangladeshi fliers’ opinion survey conducted by ‘The Bangladesh Monitor,’ a fortnightly Aviation and Tourism journal.

SriLankan Airlines hires more cadet pilots

SriLankan Airlines' latest batch of cadet pilots were awarded their 'wings' when they passed out as Junior First Officers recently at the international airport in Katunayake.

"With plans for expanding the fleet size to 30 aircraft by 2015, more recruitment will be initiated to meet growing demand with SriLankan gearing to increase its’ route network," the airline said in a statement.

"The batch of 2010 (cadet pilots) underwent a stringent one-year training programme before qualifying to fly with the national carrier," the statement said.

The cadet pilots obtained the CAASL (Civil Aviation Authority) license, a globally recognised certification, the airline said.

It has been reported that UL made a loss of LKR 19.5B in 2011.

What a waste of tax payer money?

They really should disband this whole operation and sell the tradename to a private operator.

SriLankan Air Taxi to Anuradhapura

SriLankan Air Taxi will operate daily scheduled flights to Mahawilachchiya Tank, Anuradhapura from February 4 to 11, 2012, providing fast and comfortable transfers to the exhibition venue of Deyata Kirula.

cayman: Ssshhhhhhhhhhhh: I understood that some UL people are here .. not too loud ..

Oh, I am a bit miffed about the massively profitable airline (as per propaganda a few months ago) can go into such a big nose dive ..

Ha ha... I wanted them to hear it too that they are doing a piss poor job and wasting precious public funds.

There is something fundamentally wrong with the way UL is run. There is no other explanation for the losses at UL to skyrocket at a time tourist arrivals are also sky rocketing.

Let's not even get started on Mihin!

SriLankan Airlines is planning to launch flights to Ahmedabad from Colombo as well as restarting services to Calicut and Goa. The airline had stopped the Calicut and Goa operations during FY 2008-09. Lalith Peiris, Area Manager - Maharashtra, SriLankan Airlines, revealed that the airline currently had load factors of 70-80 per cent on the Indian routes and is looking to tap MICE traffic from India. “Our focus is on corporate travellers from India. We will target MICE and corporate travellers from Tier-I and Tier-II cities in India,” he said.

SriLankan Airlines is also aiming to increase capacity on its Indian routes in 2012 by bringing in new aircraft. Peiris added, “We are considering bringing in new aircraft to fly on the Mumbai routes. We will replace the A320s currently in operation on the Mumbai routes with four A340s by March 2012. These aircraft will enable us to offer flatbed seats in business class as well as increase capacity in the economy class.”

SriLankan Airlines currently operates 77 flights per week to India including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirapalli. http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/sril...icut-goa-15570

Minhin Lanka revises flight schedule from February 2012

Mihin Lanka will revise its flight schedule starting February 01, 2012.

The airline will offer twice weekly seasonal services from Colombo to the Indian city of Gaya until April 1, 2012 and a twice weekly connection to Varanasi, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, until March 30, 2012.

Increase of flights

Mihin Lanka will increase its flights to the Indonesian capital Jakarta from three to four flights per week.

To Sharjah, UAE, from two to three flights per week.

Flights on the combined Dubai and Kuwait route will be reduced from five to four flights per week.

http://www.helitours.lk./#

Now I know why they took delivery to 2 Xian MA60 aircraft a couple of months ago.

Aviation policy to boost air cargo, transshipment

A new policy change in the aviation sector has been mooted with a focus on infrastructure development and promotion of air cargo and transshipment with the participation of the country's two main carriers. SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka have been identified as the main carriers in the country that would be actively involved in policy implementation.

Currently, the policy is at the draft stage with the statement on the plans for the sector listed in a media advertisement by the Civil Aviation Ministry as a white paper proposal and calling for public comments.
In the creation of an aviation hub the government plans to use the services of the national carrier and the local budget airline to engage in matters connected with aviation in the national policy implementation, the statement said. As part of the policy it has been proposed to adopt managed liberalized air services arrangements with an eye on traffic rights; targeting key tourist markets; and the creation of city pairs.

In addition, the government will focus on maintenance, promotion and encourage new domestic airports. In a bid to attract increased tourist generating activities aero sports would be looked at keenly. And while the opening of the Southern skies has already been declared plans are underway to expand this policy to other areas as well. Infrastructure development of airports would be carried out by drawing the relevant Airport Master Plans for all airports.

In this respect, there is a focus on promoting air cargo and transshipment with the development of air cargo handling facilities and capabilities. This would be further integrated with the handling of sea cargo in coordination with the ports sector, the draft policy states. Towards achieving these goals the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) would assist in providing the necessary security measures and increased coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

In this respect, a sharing of information, personnel and equipment would be carried out through the establishment of a Joint Civil-Military Coordination Committee. Other areas related to human resource development; investment through foreign and public private partnership; consumer protection; and environment protection through zero carbon emission in aviation have also been detailed.