Sri Lanka Aviation

Thanks for the update! ?

That is Batik Air Malaysia going to fly KUL-CMB service with 4 weekly. Schedule are below.

Mo.Tu.Th.Sa - OD297 - KUL 00:05 - CMB 01:05 - B737
Mo.Tu.Th.Sa - OD298 - CMB 02:05 - KUL 08:25 - B737

Good to see KUL-CMB route is getting popular with increased flights. In Dec25 below airlines are operating between KUL and CMB.

UL - 14 weekly
AK - 14 weekly
MH - 7 weekly
8D - 4 weekly
+
OD - 4 weekly

If I remember correctly Batik Air served CMB in the past. Can anyone confirm
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Gulf Air is going to increase BAH-MLE-CMB flights from Daily to 9 weekly from 19-Feb-2026 to 19-Mar-2026. Additional flights are operating on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Thought MRE ending the lease with UL in 2026. Very surprising it's back in service. I suspect lease have been extended with lessor?

so potential first A339 operator to CMB? (I dont know whether A339s landed there.)

Yes, Batik Air served Colombo during 2023 and ended flights in Q1 of 2024, glad to see it back! expected to be operated with 737-800s. Also, wish that Gulf Air began direct flights to CMB rather than the stop at MLE, but glad to see the flight route getting popular as indicated by the increase in flights by both BAH and KUL.

Seems like Malaysian carriers are compenstating the end of flights from 3K, heard that Wizz Air Abu Dhabi also shutting down from September 1st, I have a slight urge that because of this, more airlines (especially gulf carriers) will be increasing flights to CMB and other destinations because of this. Thoughts on this guys?

I wonder which Indian destinations will be connected with CMB by Akasa if they launch CMB.

I see Vietnam is well connected with South India. I am very surprised why still none of the Vietnam carriers haven't served CMB yet.

Hi Haleef, Am I correct thinking Hifly already operated A339 to CMB back in 2020?

Hi Banu, yes it did during late September 2020. CS-TKY. Have a picture of it parked at Colombo.
Attached below, taken by my father after a flight.

Srilankan Airlines should consider start flying to Amsterdam after getting next 2 Air Bus 330s. In July 2025, there were 15,556 tourists to Srilanka from Netherlands. More than from France and China. Not only that it is a good transit airport for passengers from USA and Canada

Heard there is a rumour AF is going to resume direct flights to CMB in 2025. Does any body confirm this and give us more details?

Air China is going to operate daily flights on CTU-CMB route in W25.

Druk Air is going to connect Paro and Colombo in December 2025. Route : PRH>IXB>CMB>PRH. Is this first ever direct flight between Bhutan and Sri Lanka? Can any one confirm if its a charter or schedule flight?

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AMS would be a great addition to UL's network and would give travelers lots of options to North America if UL could offer onward connections on Delta and KLM. However flights to AMS seem unlikely, since the airport is reducing the number of slots available to carriers?

Last time UL operated to AMS was in early 1999, when 503/4 flew AMS-LHR. Correct me if I'm wrong. They didn't restart it when European operations was at a peak in around 2001 with ARN, SXF, FCO, MXP in the network. They didn't consider to restart when Air Holland, KLM, MartinAir and several other airlines operated meanwhile.

Belavia Airlines Ready to Launch Direct Flights from Belarus to Colombo

In a significant step towards strengthening air connectivity, a delegation from Belavia Airlines, the National Air Carrier of the Republic of Belarus, paid a courtesy visit to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) on 05th August 2025.

The discussions centered around Belavia’s new business plans and potential opportunities within Sri Lanka’s aviation sector. CAASL extended a warm welcome to their proposals, and the Belavia representatives expressed strong interest in exploring these opportunities further.

Representing CAASL at the meeting were Mr. Sunil Jayarathna, Chairman, Mr. Rayhan Wanniappa, Acting Director General of Civil Aviation and Chief Executive Officer, Capt. Daminda Rambukwella, Deputy Director General (Flight Safety Regulation), Mr. M. A. K. Prasanna, Deputy Director General (Aeronautical Services Regulation) along with other senior officials.

The Belavia Airlines delegation was led by Mr. Uladzimir Barkun, Deputy Director General & Chief Commercial Officer, and Ms. Olga Mikhed, Head of Government & Industry Affairs, together with other senior officials.

The meeting was coordinated by Ms. Kaumadie Wijesinghe, Assistant Director (Europe and North America) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. Representatives from Far East Air Services (Pvt) Ltd, including Mr. Andre Fernando and Ms. Thanuja De Silva, General Sales Agents for Belavia in Sri Lanka, also attended the meeting.​

Belavia currently has 737's and a singular A332 in service (two other airframes are parked), if they do begin flights it will be safe to assume they will operate with A332s, or sometimes even B737s with a stop at RKT.