Sri Lanka Aviation

Thanks for correcting the number of weekly EK flights between DXB and CMB.

UL load factors are low on this sector since they have only one daily flight and that flight has low on-time performance.

EK is the de-facto national carrier of India, so I do not see any reason why it would be different in Sri Lanka.

So China Eastern's service from Shanghai-Pudong to BIA (PVG-CMB) has begun. The flight arrives at CMB at around 19:00 local time, and departs back to PVG around 20:30. The flight is operated by an A332. Does anyone have photos of this bird at CMB? It is nice to see all these Chinese birds coming into CMB. It won't be long to Air China also adds its second service to CMB!

UL had cancelled the plan of increasing frequency to PVG from 4 to 6 weekly after its been confirmed MU to link CMB with PVG. Yes 2nd CA service to begin from end of This month that connecting PEK-CMB. I think UL better launching nonstop flights to new destinations in China and cancel Paris, Frankfurt and Rome. North American traffic should be connected via Japan, China, Qatar and UAE.

Why cxl Frankfurt n Paris which are revenue destinations? Ok Rome but I can not understand why Frankfurt n Paris.... Frankfurt is always revenue....both pax n cargo...

You want to make Srilankan a regional Airline ??

I think that is exactly what UL should be. It is impossible to run ULH operation involving 4 destinations with just a handful of long haul aircraft.

Only LHR makes sense as an European destination, as there is enough passenger demand. UL should focus on becoming a good regional (medium / short haul) airline, rather than trying to be a half-hearted ULH / long / medium / short haul operator.

Wow! Since when UL Cargo have a direct flight to Vietnam.

Good news. It's codeshared by UL but the actual aircraft belongs to Fitsair (8D). Eventually Fitsair has plans to expand the freighter service to TRZ with twise a weekly.

Hi Haleef, Do you know when Fitsair is going to add the second MD82 to it's fleet ? Currently only Fitsair and CX are the sked freighter operators at CMB. Sadly QR Cargo doesn't serve CMB anymore after they introduce the widebodies (pax-B777-300 and pax-A340-600) in their all three daily flights to CMB.

Hi Banuthev, I still have no clue of when it's due date of arrival is. But I am looking forward to see it in Colombo soon.

Hi All, SriLankan Airlines seeks views of staff to transform airline into profitable venture . We would like to provide a report of innovative ideas and thoughts on initiatives that can be taken to reduce losses and optimise cost as the SriLankan Airlines seeks to make progressive steps towards profitability. Please share your thoughts here on our forum.

Kindly stop using MJ aircraft's for UL operations as there is absolutely no meaning in such an operation.
Also please get rid of 4r-abl/k with more a321s and refurbish a332s (4r-alg) completely, a332s (4ralh/j) with new light weight seats in economy like (4r-ala/b/c/d)


ALSO PLEASE FIX THE ENTIRE BEAUTY OF BIA
This is the only fixing that is needed (to have a standard product)

UL has been run into the ground - they are out of options, out of money and out of ideas.

Somehow nobody is involved, nobody is responsible and nobody is accountable for the current sad state of affairs.

The info I have is that there will be a significant downsizing. This includes cancellation of all Europe flight except London. They have to fly the London flight as per an agreement with the UK.

Looks like "business as usual" until March/April. They will need close to $100 Million to keep things running until then. No idea where this money is going to come from.

The only other option is bankruptcy.

A350 Project Manager has resigned - my take on that is that the A350 order will be quietly cancelled. They don't need them anymore.

The are offering Pilots a leave of absence. Pilots can go and fly at Qatar. Problem with this is there are no guarantees that they will be re-employed by UL after the leave of absence expires.

New CEO has been hired because of family connections - has no experience as CEO. You can't get the right results with the wrong people!

Nothing ever changes! This Airline is riddled with corruption, incompetence and useless Donkeys from top to bottom.

I see no annual report has been issued this year and last year's report has been quietly removed from the UL website. Another indication of just how bad things are.

Cost-cutting measures:

1) Aggressive Fuel Price Hedging - This is one single reason which may save millions for Sri Lankan.

2) Supreme Service - They need to have a fleet which runs approximately always on-time (90%). This not only makes their customers come back for their next trip but also saves a lot on operational cost.

3) Renting out its aircrafts – Aircrafts which are not necessary can be leased out to other airlines (International players) this is another zone where Sri Lankan can make good money.

4) Route planning - They need to fly only on profitable routes and slots.

5) Common type aircrafts - Sri Lankan uses the same family of aircraft (Airbus). This reduces the overhead costs like training of pilots for different aircraft and the logistics involved in maintaining different class of aircraft.

6) Turnaround time - An airline is charged for the duration its aircraft stays at the airport. Sri Lankan need to maintain a faster turnaround time (time taken between landing and the next take-off). Having a single make of aircraft again helps in this regard as the time taken by the crew gets optimized.

Just a quick correction - annual reports are now available on the UL website

(1)-Don't makes to direct flights to Europe makes daily flights to Europe via middle east countries
(2) more A320 neo