Sri Lanka Aviation

WOW thats great news.

pain for the people who says shutdown is the only option.

Not sure how on-time performance is going to magically erase $1Billion+ debt with at least $2Billion in forward liabilities.

Will it erase 12 year leases at above market rates with no termination clause?

Even the Rogue CEO admits they can't make money under the current arrangements.

Cathay Pacific capacity increase on Colombo flights as the airline schedules 3 class B777-300ER. Who mostly travel on CMB-HKG route? Because it is very difficult for a Sri Lankan to get HK Visa & can't have transit either without visa in HKG

SriLankan optimistic that restructuring will lead to profits

SriLankan Airlines is confident that once its restructuring efforts begin, it will start to enjoy profits.

Chief executive Suren Ratwatte says the carrier has recorded higher than expected revenue for each month of the current financial year and could be profitable by March 2018. He made the remarks in a television interview.

"We have beaten our revenue forecast in each month of the current financial year, but a big problem for us is our cost base. We need to reduce that – and if we can do it, we will be profitable by the end of the financial year."

SriLankan recorded a net loss of SLR6.49 billion ($15.1 million) in the last financial year ended 31 March. The figure was "a significant improvement from the deficit that had been budgeted for the year", said the carrier.

Ratwatte says that while the Sri Lankan government is a major shareholder of the airline, Colombo does not share its plans openly but will oversee the restructuring efforts.

"We have already submitted a restructuring plan to them and are waiting approval. [The government] works in mysterious ways. It is not an easy task to find a partner who is not a competitor and has capital."

He adds that SriLankan's primary barrier to growth is a lack of funding, but that "significant" air services agreements can help it expand.

Ratwatte has also called on the government to "act quickly" to iron out the restructuring process within the next six months.

"We have had the the inability to cash in on what is essentially our captive market (in South Asia). If we don't act quickly, we're going to be left behind as more and more capacity is added onto the market from the Gulf and India, and we lose market share."

To that end, SriLankan has embarked on a programme to rejig its business and pivot to a more regional-focused network.

Ratwatte explains that the carrier's dropping of European services – whilst keeping just a direct London route – and its upcoming Colombo-Melbourne service on 29 October are some examples to meet that objective.

"If we a draw a 1,000 mile ring around Colombo, key destinations include Hyderabad and the Maldives. They are in our natural market with 300 million people. The South Asian market still offers plenty of room for growth."

He says a third of its passengers are classified as VFR (visiting friends and relatives). The balance are network traffic and leisure travelers into the country.

On its fleet plans, SriLankan could lease one or two aircraft in the near future and return another three older narrowbodies to lessors in 2018. Those will be replaced with another three Airbus A320neos by the end of 2017.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that SriLankan operates a fleet of 26 aircraft with an even split of A320-family aircraft and A330s.

Meanwhile, Ratwatte rejects the idea that Colombo could hive off SriLankan's various businesses including ground handling services, catering and engineering.

"If you look at the Gulf carriers, they operate on a group level and they cross-subsidise across their various businesses. It is difficult to make profits just on air transport alone, especially in our region."

Direct AI flight between Varanasi and Colombo launched

An 180-seater Air India aircraft ferried 101 passengers in the inaugural flight that was flagged off at 12.35 pm from the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Babatpur here in the Lok Sabha constituency of the prime minister.

For its return journey, 179 passengers have already made advance booking, said Air India spokesperson Dhanjay Kumar in Varanasi.

The Airbus 320 aircraft was flagged off by Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani.

The all-economy class flight will make two trips a week - on Fridays and Sundays, the spokesperson said.

SriLankan chief admits need to trim fat, but won’t say how

Crew cost #Cayman

If I'm not mistaken, a transit visa isn't needed when flying to USA or Australia. There are alot of Srilankan people using CX between Colombo and AUS/USA as they offer very good fares.

CS-TFZ over flying Colombo as GIA5105�� This was to be ex. SriLankan A330-200.
For a moment I thought it was coming back to SriLankan��

Any Idea why there are two flights to LHR on the same day?

Source:Aviation Flash FB

i think is a bug because i can still see 4r-Alm in CMB

Effective from 1SEP17 onwards: Qatar Airways Doha – Colombo Increase from 4 to 5 daily, new flight by A320

QR656 DOH0100 – 0905CMB 320 D
QR657 CMB1005 – 1300DOH 320 D

Source:airlineroute

Kuwait Airways is operating its new B777-300ERs to CMB

This is great news, since their routine A330-200 was not meeting the ever increasing demand between CMB-KWI sector as they are one of the few airlines that serve DOH in the middle east even after the crisis. I also think that they offer the best fare between CMB-DOH via KWI and also European destinations. Don't know what's going on with their one and only B747-400 (9K-ADE), Which they serve on High density route anyway Keep us dated.