Sri Lanka Aviation

Thanks for the video! How is the passenger load factor on Rossiya Airlines between Moscow and Colombo?

****

Direct flights will operate three times a week

Air India’s wholly-owned subsidiary Alliance Air’s flight service between Chennai and Jaffna will begin operations from November 11. The direct flights will be operated thrice a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The flight from Chennai 9I 101 will depart at 10.35 a.m. and arrive in Jaffna at 12 p.m. The flight from Jaffna 9I 102 will then depart at 12.45 p.m and reach Chennai at 2.10 p.m on the scheduled days, Alliance Air said in a press release on Monday.

The direct flight service which was inaugurated with a maiden flight on October 17 was initially scheduled to begin on November 1. Air India officials told*The Hindu*that there was a delay as some formalities had to be completed between the two countries. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe had launched the Jaffna international airport for civilian operations in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena on the same day just before the inaugural flight touched down.

This will be Alliance Air’s first connection to an international destination. Alliance Air currently connects 53 destinations within India with 113 departures every day.

“It brings us immense delight that after spearheading efforts connecting unique regional routes within India under UDAN, we now fly international, adding the beautiful island nation Sri Lanka in the aviation ambit of Alliance Air. This will be the first non-stop service between Chennai & Jaffna,” C.S. Subbiah, CEO, Alliance Air, said.

The opening up of Jaffna airport for international civilian flights is expected to reduce passenger traffic at Colombo international airport, as the mostly Tamil population in Jaffna will now be able to travel abroad without having to undertake a nearly eight hour journey to the Sri Lankan capital city.

Air India Chairman and Managing Director, Ashwani Lohani said on the day of the inaugural flight that the route was chosen due to high demand. “If it does well, we can increase its frequency. Initially, we will be operating three flights a week and this will increase to one flight a day,” he said.

The cost of a ticket from Chennai- Jaffna will be ₹3,990 plus applicable taxes and levies, while the Jaffna-Chennai ticket will cost $45 plus taxes and levies, an Alliance Air spokesperson said.

Source : The Hindu

WTM LONDON 2019: COLOMBO-SYDNEY IN THE PIPELINE FOR SRILANKAN AIRLINES

04 NOV 2019BY*PIPPA JACKS

Sri Lanka’s national carrier is poised to relaunch a Sydney route in the middle of next year, and hopes to position the island as an alternative stopover route to Australia.

Sri Lankan Airlines

The airline had hoped to bring the route back in 2019, but plans were shelved in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.

*

“Sri Lanka is a very good half-way point from the UK – 10 hours to Colombo, then 10 hours to Sydney,” said chief executive Vipula Gunatilleka.

*

“Our daily Melbourne route has been excellent for us, particularly for the Indian market, and we expect Sydney to be similarly appealing,” he added, citing that Australia’s 700,000-strong Indian population is expected to grow to 1.3 million in the next five years.

*

The airline formerly flew to Sydney, but ceased in 2001 because of a terrorist incident, and currently flies only from Colombo to Melbourne.

He confirmed plans for Colombo routes to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, are also on the table for 2020.

*

Gunatilleka said that passenger numbers had recovered well since the Easter attacks, with numbers currently only 7% down on the same time last year – though he admitted yields have not been high.

*

“Yields have come under a lot of pressure; we’ve had to be flexible on pricing,” he said. “We now need [yields] to bounce back.”

*

The airline confirmed it is to relaunch its website and mobile app next year in a bid to appeal to travellers who expect a “content-rich digital experience”, while the SriLankan Holidays website will relaunch in January.

Source : TTG

I think UL should better not look to try an invest in new aircraft purchases because almost every single purchase from every regime has been bought with exuberant commissions and benefit packages to the top brass. It is us, the countries humble tax payer that has to finally pay for the aircraft and the money pocketed in the process.

I think UL should look to get rid of 4R-ALS for good, the Aircraft is adding insult to injury for the already incapacitated so called proud state run airline. Usually other UL A330s perform at least 4 cycles a day, but i dont see 4R-ALS operate anywhere else than JED. It is understandable since it is a high dense route but this aircraft is ruining the airlines reputation as an international non-budget airline. Other airlines WY are offering better services in this sector using the relatively cramped B737.

Emirates CEO Tim clark recently suggested that UL should focus on operations in Asia and let the other international airlines do the long haul while UL should improve the business case for tourism. I think this is a good way forward. UL does not have a good load factor apart from LHR.

The least we can hope as citizens of this country is that this airline should be brought to level where it can sustain it self rather than the need for state and public banks of this country to constantly pump capital into it.

What about Frankfurt?

It's a scheduled winter season flight.

4R-ALD will leave the fleet soon within the next few weeks. Lease is over, and aircraft is already in the hangar. Will update you guys soon.

According to news, UL flights to Frankfurt is going to restart from 2021.

Sydney, Ho chi minh city and Ahmedabad from 2020

New flights from Poland, Russia and China are to boost Sri Lanka’s recovery even further over the coming year : https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/w...recovery-19980
News Published on 05/11/2019

__________

Does anyone know more about above news? Does this mean new flights going to be operated from China to Sti Lanka from next year.

I know currently LOT Polish Airlines is operating twice a weekly B789 and Rossiya Airlines is operating 5 weekly B773 to Colombo. I wonder which new flights are going commence from next year as mentioned on the above news.

Any update on replacenent for the retiring A332S?

Alliance Air announce Chennai - Jaffna flights from 11 Nov 2019

MO __ WE __ __ SA __ - 9I 101 - 10:35 - 12:00 - ATR72 - MAA-JAF
__ __ __ __ __ SA __ - 9I 102 - 12:45 - 13:55 - ATR72 - JAF - MAA
MO __ WE __ __ __ __ - 9I 102 - 12:45 - 14:10 - ATR72 - JAF-MAA

this is nothing new but what is already happening around corner.. only what may happen that few more Chinese carries start coming here connecting few cities of China and Colombo.

on the other hand it seems Russian are getting more interested in coming here for their holidays.. we have we ready seen couple of flights from st petersburg, and few other cities..

VietJet Airlines of Vietnam planning to commence flights between Hanoi and Colombo next year.

Good news ! But is it going to compete with SriLankan Airlines 's Colombo-Ho Chi minh city flight when it start next year?

4R-ALS is back in service