|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 12 April 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Business | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Czech Airlines to increase flights to Colombo By Channa Kasturisinghe Czech Airlines (CSA), the only European carrier which operates scheduled flights to Colombo is planning to increase the number of flights by November to cater to the increasing demand from tourists from Europe to visit the Emerald Island. CSA's Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives Jiri Jarkovsky told the Daily News that since the airline started operating to Colombo in October last year the demand has increased tremendously and as a result of the peace process Sri Lanka has become the most interesting destination in Asia for European travellers. "CSA has regular air connections to 39 countries and 64 cities in Europe, Asia, North America, Africa and the Middle East. Among them Sri Lanka is increasingly becoming one of the most attractive destinations. The number of passengers using our airline to visit Sri Lanka is increasing every month. Among them are tourists visiting here through tour operators and individually. CSA, in its flights to Colombo operates Airbus 310 with the capacity of 209 seats. At present we operate two direct flights a week -Colombo to Prague on Wednesday and Saturday. We would like to increase the number of flights at least up to three by November," Jarkovsky said. He said the airline's services between Colombo and Dubai is also becoming popular. "We also want to make our flights popular among Sri Lankans who visit interesting European destinations including Prague," he said. From April 13 CSA will operate direct flights from Prague to Edinburgh in UK, Tallin in Estonia and Cork in Ireland. By taking advantage of the cooperation with other airlines the CSA has increased its customer choice by raising the number of weekly departures to cities in Europe. Jarkovsky said that being accepted to Sky Team which comprises Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Delta and Korean Air was a great success for CSA. "Sky Team is an international alliance of six airlines has more than one thousand aircraft. Sky Team offers its 228 million passengers 8,217 flights to 512 destinations covering 114 countries," he said. In 2001 Czech Airlines operated a fleet made up of three types of aircraft including Airbus 310 for long-haul flights, Boeing 737 for medium-haul flights and ATR for regional and short-haul routes. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
