Sri Lanka Aviation

Probably

I saw 4R-ALP parked near terminal 4 today morning.

Videos

it has not left yet as of 5.23 pm London time
Seems like a technical problem

UL 504 was not cancelled on Sep 29. 4R-ALN flew to CMB as scheduled

SriLankan Airlines (UL) says that embarking on a five-year strategic plan to stabilise the flag carrier to help it become a self-sustaining entity has helped boost passenger numbers and revenues since it was announced earlier in the year.

It said in a September 24 media statement that the strategy, which aims to bolster its operations and finances, has led to improvements across “multiple areas” in the past 12 months.

According to the statement, the airline’s on-time performance has risen to 74% in 2025, up from 69% last year, “despite global engines and spare parts shortages”. At the same time, it said that revised timings and expanded services had helped boost passenger revenue and numbers by 10% and 22%, respectively, in the first five months of the 2025/26 financial year.

Officials said earlier in September that the airline was likely to be restructured as the state pushes ahead with plans to liquidate other public enterprises that have failed. That followed an admission in June that the airline was losing money on 31 of the 45 routes it operated.

The country's new administration first announced the five-year plan in February 2025, saying at the time it planned to grow the fleet to 52 aircraft and double the airline’s revenues from below USD1 billion to more than USD2 billion.

Meanwhile, the carrier said it had returned two of its grounded aircraft to service during the year, although the statement did not give further details. According to ch-aviation fleets data, just one of the airline’s 23 aircraft, A321-200N 4R-ANE (msn 7891), is currently parked, an improvement on April 2024 when nine units were grounded.

The fleet currently comprises seven A320-200s, two A320-200Ns, four A321-200Ns, three A330-200s, and seven A330-300s. In June 2025, it took delivery of its first new widebody in seven years, with one more of the variant still to join the fleet. SriLankan also has four A350-900s on order from Airbus, part of a bigger deal that has caused some tension between carrier and manufacturer.

source: https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/158...five-year-plan

can confirm. ALN is currently getting ready to do UL880(CMB-CAN)
4R-ALP is still in LHR.(at this point it is obvious that its involved in some mechanical failure).
any updates about itbanuthev / Randula ?

4R-ALQ currently in maintenance.

Thanks for the update, unfortunately I got nothing much about ALP, I’ll try to get some info from LHR T4 side if possible.

4R-ALP on the way back home to CMB, due at 3:30 AM from LHR.

charter flight?
MAW2000 please confirm mate.

additional info: it did return back to CMB today.

Indigo seems to be launching 4th Daily to CMB from MAA starting 26th October as per their website.. 6E1179/1180.

6E seems to have slightly adjusted the timings of the flights to MAA. Looks like another Indian City will be connected via 6E. As I mentioned before could be DEL ( I'm only assuming)with 6E launching Long haul flights.

High time UL stops sleeping on the wheel. Im not promoting 6E, but this is aggressive.

Correct 8D521/2 Charter flight carrying Indian and Sri Lankan Women Cricket team from GAU to CMB.