Mihin to fly on Jan. 1

SHIRAJIV SIRIMANE

Mihin Lanka will recommence operations again from January 1, 2009. The first flight will be for Dubai from Colombo International Airport at 6 p.m.

The new Boeing 787 aircraft with the capacity to carry 187 passengers arrived in Colombo last Saturday night from France flown by French pilots.

The new Mihin Lanka aircraft at the Colombo International Airport yesterday

The Mihin logo and the branding were also done in France.

Chairman, Mihin Lanka, Raja Edirisuriya speaking from UsA, told Daily News Business that the recommencement was delayed due to problems encountered overseas.

“These were beyond our control and all these issues have now been resolved,” he said.

Commenting on the aircraft he said that it’s a very new aircraft used in France for less than six months.

The agreement is to fly 350 hours a week and there would be a mixed crew on board.

The roll out plan for the relaunch initially include six weekly frequencies to Dubai leaving Colombo at 9.15 p.m. each and reaching Colombo at 4.30 a.m. the following day.

There would be no flight to Dubai on Saturday.

The Mihin ticket office have already been able to sell 35 per cent of the ticket for the first flight.

“We are confident that the balance seats could be sold before the scheduled departure,” he said.

The airline would be selling a ticket less that US 4 100 dollars than any other airline operating to Dubai.

“This is in line of keeping the initial objective of the airline; providing low cost passage to the less affluent,” he said.

The airline would also operate flights to Trichi and Trivendrum from the second week of January.

This would be a daily frequency operating during day time.

“Mihin would also play the role of a feeder airline to SriLankan as it would carry many passengers from Trichi and Trivendrum flying to other international destinations using Colombo as a hub,” he said.

With Bodhgaya season commencing the airline will operate daily flights from February 15.

“This is fulfilling another promise of Mihin; providing low passage to Buddhist pilgrims,” he said.

The airline also launched their own home grown call centre thus saving a large sum of money.

“We have learnt from the past experience and this time we want to make Mihin a viable venture and cost cutting is a key objective,” he said.

The airline will be also looking at new Indian destinations after March when the Bodhgaya season ends.