SriLankan Airlines flies to Russia

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

SriLankan Airlines will fly to Moscow for the first time which will be its 52nd destination.

According to Civil Aviation Ministry sources, there was no direct flight service between Russia and Sri Lanka.

Civil Aviation Ministry officials together with Minister Priyankara Jayaratne signed an MOU with Russian officials on Thursday in Ukraine.

Moscow is the 52nd destination of the SriLankan Airlines. In accordance with the MOU, seven flights will be operated a week at the initial stage. Flights will operate to Moscow via Dubai every Thursday and Saturday. It has been planned to increase flight frequencies to 14 from the beginning of next year.

Students studying in Russia will mainly benefit by this direct flight service. In addition, ties between the two countries will be strengthened along with growth in several fields, such as, trade, tourism, business, education etc.

In addition to this destination, SriLankan plans to fly to more new destinations in Asia and Europe, in the near future in line with ongoing aviation sector development initiatives.

SriLankan Airlines will fly to Toronto in Canada for the first time from October this year.

The Airlines will operate seven flights per week with a stopover in Heathrow London. In addition, the Airlines plans to fly to Shanghai from September using a modern Airbus. At present SriLankan Airlines operates flights to five European countries.

The Airlines has 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 has plans to acquire a few new aircraft within this year.

The Airlines recruited 11 new pilots following a training programme conducted by it.