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Cathay Pacific Airways will add fourth weekly flight to Colombo from August 4, offering more choice to passengers and cargo customers.

The airline has decided to add another flight operating between Hong-Kong and Colombo to cater to the increasing demand from Colombo, in particular for additional cargo capacity, Toby Smith Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives told the Media on Wednesday.

Flight CX703 will depart Hong Kong every Sunday, making one stop in Bangkok and the return flight CX700 from Colombo will fly via Bangkok the following morning. The airline will operate the service with a Boeing 777-300 configured with 59 Business Class seats and an enlarged 323-seat Economy Class cabin. The aircraft also offers significant capacity in the belly hold to handle increasing cargo traffic from Colombo.

The airline will utilise an aircraft currently parked overnight in Bangkok after its existing scheduled flight from Hong Kong. It will make the additional return trip to Colombo in time to provide its regular morning service from Bangkok to Hong Kong.

"With the increase of four flights a week from August we are not only reiterating our commitment to Sri Lanka but also the confidence it has in the local market and economy," Mr. Smith said.

Director General of Civil Aviation Lal Nanayakkara said Cathay Pacific's move was welcomed at a time when Sri Lanka was looking for more traffic to Colombo.

"We are confident that Cathay Pacific will bring more traffic to Colombo and the ongoing peace process would ensure that other airlines too will follow suit. We are very satisfied with the way Cathay Pacific has been operating its flights to Colombo and it is one of the airlines which provided its services even in difficult periods," Mr. Nanayakkara said.

Tha airline has also announced the return of cabin crew to Colombo in order to maximise operational efficiency.

Cathay Pacific Airways commenced operations to Sri Lanka in 1993 with two flights a week, which was subsequently increased to three flights a week in 1997.

James Finlay and Co. (Colombo) Ltd is the General Sales Agent for Cathay Pacific Airways in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. 

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