Big leap in Lankan aviation sector:

National carrier to make first flight to Moscow

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne

SriLankan Airlines will fly to Russia for the first time in the country’s aviation history from September 15, Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said. This is the 52nd destination of SriLankan Airlines. At the initial stage, the flight will proceed to Moscow twice a week. It will operate to Moscow via Dubai every Thursday and Saturday. In addition to this the national carrier has also scheduled flights to several more new destinations in Asia and Europe in line with ongoing aviation sector development.

SriLankan Airlines will fly to Toronto in Canada for the first time from October this year. The airlines will conduct seven flights a week with a stopover in Heathrow, London.

The Airlines will also fly to Shanghai from July using a modern Airbus. SriLankan Airlines is conducting operations to five European countries at present.

“There is a huge traffic from Colombo to London and London to Toronto and back. Therefore, moves will be taken to cater to this potential market. More facilities will be included together with deploying modern flights aiming to cater to the market,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines acquired another A320 Airbus recently in a move to expand its fleet. The airline now possesses a fleet of 17 aircraft, the largest fleet in its history. It includes five A320s, five A330s, five A340s and two De Havilland Twin Otters.

SriLankan Airlines is scheduled to acquire six new aircraft within this year. It also acquired 11 new pilots following a training programme conducted by the Airlines.