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By Ravi Ladduwahetty

Air Lanka International Ltd, the Sri Lankan aviation company headed by well-known business magnate and marine engineer Nahil Wijesuriya, will shortly fly to Europe, Middle East and Far East , following Ministry Civil Aviation approval.

Air Lanka International Ltd, will soon lease either an Airbus A300 or A350 or a Boeing and the likely destinations will range from London, Rome, Frankfurt Singapore and a host of others, Mr. Wijesuriya told the Daily News.

The company will commence passenger and cargo flights to the Jaffna peninsula on April 15 and that will be a prime case for the Department of Civil Aviation to take up with the Government that a local private company has been issued a licence and that it has the capability fly overseas well. Cabinet approval is imminent.

It is a big boost to be awarded the accreditation by the civil aviation authorities here which are the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Department of Civil Aviation, Wijesuriya said and added that the stringent specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICA0) was extremely arduous.

The company has already completed twenty flights from Sharjah to Peshawar, Lahore, Karachchi and Chennai on its AN 12 cargo plane which has a capacity of 18 tonnes.

Air Lanka International Ltd's Director/ CEO Vajira Wijesuriya, who is Nahil Wijesuriya's 24-year old qualified pilot son, said that the company capitalises on the Middle Eastern market's Indian and Pakistani population which wants their personal effects transported.

The airline will also carry betel leaves to Karachchi soon, he said.

There are also large quantities of fabric transported from the Middle East to Pakistan which is essentially transhipment cargo. This company is also assisting British Airways in its cargo handling operations out of Sharjah and it has also a contract with DHL to carry cargo between Chennai and Sharjah, he said.

The company will also operate a 110 seater Illushin 18 aircraft between Colombo and Jaffna which will fly from Katunayake to Jaffna.

The flights which will commence from Katunayake to Palaly around 9 am, will return to Ratmalana in the morning. In the afternoon, it will leave from Ratmalana to Jaffna and return to Katunayake, the Director/CEO said.

He said that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has given approval for private operators to fly Jaffna as the Sri Lanka Air Force carrying passenger flights was illegal. The initial investment is around Rs. 50 million and the expansion program will also have a further Rs. 50 million, making the investment Rs. 100 million, according to the CEO.

He said that the original Air Lanka- Emirates Agreement was so loose in that there were provisions which did not preclude the Department of Civil Aviation from providing approval for other local companies to operate international/ domestic carriers and that was the reason for his company drawing from these advantages.

Air Lanka International Ltd will also apply for permission to the Department of Civil Aviation to operate a Jaffna-Tuticorin air service for which it will be procuring an Airbus A 320. East West Ferries Ltd, a member of the East West Group of which Mr. Wijesuriya is also the Chairman, will commence a ferry service between Thalaimannar and Rameswaran which could carry 200 passengers and 20 vehicles.

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