Demand for domestic airlines will increase soon

Charumini de Silva

With the end of the war, the demand for domestic airlines will increase in the next few months according to a local aviation industry expert.

Managing Director of Express M. Manoharan told Daily News Business, “As the Hindu religious season has started in Nallur and Nagadeepa we expect more than 100,000 Sri Lankans living in Europe to come during this season.

The pilgrims that we are expecting from Europe is definite since, they are due to arrive during the summer holidays.

“We have five aircraft flying from Colombo to Jaffna daily with an average passenger load of 150 to 200. Our last flight from Jaffna to Colombo is at 4 p.m and we call upon the Government to relax the landing times so that the number of flights could be increased. If the Government is willing to lift the landing time especially at night, we could definitely reduce the rate of the tickets.

That will directly benefit customers and during the season we look forward to an improvement in the Northern Province as well”, he added.

The domestic airline operators hope to purchase a few more aircraft in the future so, that passengers will not have to wait for a long time.

In the meantime, there will be competitive rates for passengers. He said, “Railway transportation will not make a big difference in the domestic airline demand as it is only up to Thandikullam.

Even if the locals use the land transportation due to the cost, the Sri Lankan diaspora will not like to use the land transportation as it takes a few more hours than travelling by air.

Hence, the demand for air travel will not drop as we expect more Sri Lankans from abroad”.