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| Monday, 29 September 2003 |
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by Tharika Goonathilake Commencing this November, Sri Lanka's tourism industry will boast domestic flights to some of the country's most sought after tourist holiday localities, following a move by the national carrier SriLankan Airlines to link the island's tourism hot spots through a new domestic airline route. Two CESSNA amphibian planes will facilitate tourist traffic to Trincomalee, Kandalama, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Bentota with a one way ticket priced at around US$100, SriLankan Airlines' Head of Commercial G.T Jeyaseelan said. "The nine seater planes will cut down travel to a maximum 20 to 30 minutes as opposed to the normal road travel time, ranging from anything between three to eight hours to reach these areas," he said. The domestic tickets are expected to be pre-booked at the time of initial destination ticket purchase. However, arrangements will also be made to operate ticket booths at the SriLankan Airlines counters at Katunayake. SriLankan Airlines has done presentations in major markets to unveil their new domestic airline operations linking popular localities on the tourism map. Depending on the demand, the airline also plans to bring in more planes with higher capacity. According to Jayaseelan, technical studies are under way in collaboration with environmental authorities on the inland water bodies for sea plane operations. The study encompasses Western, Central and Northwestern regions. The sites under evaluation include Beira Lake, Colombo, Bentota Lagoon, Lake Gregory, Kandalama Tank, Victoria Reservoir, Mahaweli River, Nilaweli and Trincomalee harbour. Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge said that work on the domestic airport, adjoining the Bandaranaike International Airport has commenced with the fully functional domestic facility to be opened next year.Part of the Air Force Base adjoining the international airport has been acquired for the project, given the increasing demand for a service of this nature. "With the industry gearing for a tourism boom this winter season, it is vital for Sri Lanka to offer better and faster options of inland travel. A hassle free and expeditious journey to their preferred holiday locality is a prerequisite for any tourist," Lokuge said adding that the new routes will help expand other flights operated by domestic airlines. Domestic flights are operated by Lion Air, Serendib Express and Expo Aviation. Flights are available only to Jaffna at the moment, although plans are afoot to cover other areas. |
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