Sri Lanka Aviation

A333 is not a long haul aircraft - it is designed for short and medium length routes. UL bought these aircraft as an A332 replacement.

A350 is supposed to replace A343.

Operating A333 to London can only be done with payload restrictions - London flight can be as long as 12 hours in the Winter months.

Even the A343 has payload restrictions to London in the Winter months.

UL has the 260000kg version of the A343 (except for - ADG)- my Airline has the 275000kg version of the A343 with the 190000kg landing weight option.

When I flew CMB-LHR-CMB the westbound flights were at maximum weight. Eastbound we didn't reach maximum landing weight until 90 minutes from CMB.

These flights were full - they should have been profitable. London is a premium route for every Airline - except UL.

The entire sales/marketing/commercial departments need to be investigated. What is needed is accountability!


Regarding the integration of UL/Mihin - terrible idea!

You'd saddle UL with all of Mihin's debts and long term liabilities - UL is already a financial disaster.

There are people at Mihin who were not re-hired by UL.

There are people working at Mihin who failed the selection at UL.

I don't see any benefit to merging the 2 companies - hope it doesn't happen.

As much as Mihin Lanka should be shut down, what is the likelihood of UL taking over certain destinations, which for MJ were doing ok, namely Dhaka and Jakarta.
Not sure if Seychelles or Lahore are actually worth pursuing or not. They do seem kind of promising in the long term. Medan, on the other hand, should be given the chop. I have never really understood the rationale with Medan.

I recently flew cme kul ul315 business class a320 uncomfortable food and service is excellent 737 mph seats better than a320
For short haul like chennai Karachi they use a321 they should use a321 to kul and sin a321 business class better than a320 Hope they have some food change in future also they should stop giving China promotions like usd 500 Guangzhou cmb guangzhou inc 3 night hotel from hk run ticket costs usd700 plus

what UL is missing are a couple of A319s. these aircraft have a good range for a narrow body jet. UL can use these for experimenting on new routes and existing routes in the region

UL hub should be CMB & MJ Hub should be HRI.MJ can operate like air Arabia purely focusing on trasit pax.

UL should opereate to PEK/PVG non stop daily.And start services to JNB,DUR,NBO,LAD

Pope visit

UL used 4R-ADF to fly Pope to Manila. It operated as UL 4111 & 4112

Haha a pic of SriLankan airlines on the front page of BBC News

Hi, does anyone know if 4R-ADF was fitted with the VIP kit for Pope Francis's flight to Manila?

An interesting article: A new dawn of Sri Lanka Aviation.

***A change in government has inevitably affected aviation in Sri Lanka whenever it occurred. Apart from changes made to top positions in civil aviation, a new regime in Sri Lanka has also tried to review air transport policy in the country with a view to rejuvenating the industry and seizing lost opportunities of the past

More... http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2015...ional.html?m=1

SriLankan Airlines cancels flights to Mattala from tomorrow 17th

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/news-onlin...-tomorrow.html

SriLankan Airlines will cancel operating flights to the Hambantota International Airport at Mattala from tomorrow (Saturday) onwards, officials said on Friday.

“This is because the official carrier is losing massive amounts of money by operating flights to this new airport built at a cost of Rs. 27 billion in an area of 2,000 hectares by the previous regime,” an Aviation Ministry official said.

The move comes after expected changes at the national carrier following President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat at the polls. His brother-in-law Nishantha Wickramasinghe who was airline chairman has already resigned.

The official said that Mattala is a white elephant and that few are using the airline from Mattala. He added that they haven’t taken a decision on Mihin Lanka, while industry sources say that Flydubai and Rotana Jet carriers that are using the Mattala Airport will also stop flights there when the national carrier stops flights. SriLankan flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Chennai, Jeddah, Male and Colombo from Mattala. – ENDS -
- See more at: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/news-onlin....9tMFA4Oj.dpuf

Got some news..

Alpha Lima Mike (4R-ALM) has experienced a technical fault after a flight, I think somewhere in a Middle Eastern country or in Tokyo and cannot return back to SL until she's repaired.. You know what I mean.. She's stuck.

Lankan Cargo's Boeing 727 is going to be scrapped (Confirmed).. Not sure about the date.. I think during this week Lankan Cargo formally known as Aero Lanka will be receiving a new aircraft for their fleet

-Regards,
Haleef

This can be a rumor. According to FR24, 4R-ALM last flight wat to CMB from Shanghai (PVG), landed @ 6.50am today

So what will they do with Mattala airport now? Seems a waste to just abandon it.

Yep it arrived back today.. It got delayed yesterday (14 hours of ssomething) and it came today.. The crew and the passengers have come back today morning only.. I spoke to a stewardess today, she was the one who told me about this..

What is the status of UL 3 Aircraft. 4R-ALB and 4R-ALJ are not flying lately, are they getting economy class refurbishment? And 4R-ADC, are they being phased out. Anyone got updates?