Sri Lanka domestic airlines go international

 Shirajiv Sirimane

INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS: Sri Lanka domestic airline operators are now gearing themselves to launch their international operations from Colombo next June.

The Civil Aviation Authority has given the green light for three operators, Holiday Air, Expo Aviation and Air Deccan to operate international flights to four Indian destinations exploiting the open sky agreement between India and Sri Lanka. The four destinations in India are, Trichchi, Trevendram, Cochin and Calicut.

The other main six destinations, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Culcutta and Bangalore had not been opened to the airlines as yet.

Director Sales, Expo Aviation S. Mohamed said that they are happy that the Government has finally given the airlines the green light to fly international. "We are excited and looking for new destinations," he said.

CEO Holiday Air, Arjun Razzak said that they would be operating to the four destinations as low cost carriers. "We are hoping to have daily flights," he said. However he said that they are also keen on operating to more lucrative destinations in the future. He said that their fares would be very competitive and are making plans to lease out two aircrafts for the operations," he said.

An official of the Air Deccan said that they have very strong domestic network in India, which would give better connections for their passengers all over India. "The airline is looking at operating two flights out of Colombo each day," he said.

When contacted an official of the SriLankan Airlines which operates the highest number of flights to India destinations said that they welcome competition. "This would increase more passengers to fly to India," he said.