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SriLankan Airlines acquires
fifth Airbus |
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SriLankan
Airlines acquired its fifth Airbus A320 aircraft which increases
its fleet to 17. The airline plans to get as many as five more
aircraft this year. Of the five, the airline plans to acquire
one A340, two A320s and two Turbo Otter air taxis.
The rapid expansion of fleet is to provide capacity for the
large increase in the number of destinations that SriLankan
Airlines flies to and service the increase in frequencies to
existing destinations. SriLankan presently flies to 42 destinations
in 23 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
SriLankan uses its A320s to service its network of destinations
in South Asia and the Middle East.
“SriLankan Airlines is by far the biggest foreign operator
to India. The arrival of this aircraft allows us greater flexibility
in servicing our present 10 Indian destinations, and the opportunity
to serve even more cities, which we are planning,” said
Peter Hill, CEO, SriLankan Airlines.
The airline launched services to Calicut in southern India on
the 1st of July, and has announced plans to begin flights to
Ahmadabad later this year. It presently flies to New Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy, Trivandrum, Bodh Gaya, Kochi
and Hyderabad - a total of 66 flights per week with daily flights
to many of the ten cities.
The airline now operates five four-engined long range A340s,
four twin-engined medium range A330s, five A320s, one Cessna
Caravan amphibious aircraft, and two Antonov AN12 freighter
aircraft.
SriLankan expects to acquire one or two more long range aircraft
later this year, as it will be entering the China market in
November, with the launch of thrice-weekly flights between Colombo
and Beijing via Bangkok.
SriLankan recently increased its frequencies to London (12 per
week), Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Muscat and Bahrain in accordance
with its strategy of having daily frequency to as many of its
existing destinations as possible. The airline is also rationalizing
flight timings around the world to provide common timings for
each destination, for increased efficiency.
The airline’s domestic service, SriLankan Air Taxi, is
also rapidly expanding its services, and plans to increase its
number of amphibious aircraft to three from the present single
aircraft. SriLankan Air Taxi recently increased its network
by adding two more destinations - Weerawila near the southern
coast and Ampara in the southeast. Other destinations include
the ancient hill capital of Kandy in the central highlands,
the southwestern coastal resort of Bentota, the southern heritage
city of Galle, the coastal resort of Trincomalee on the east
coast famed for its tranquil beaches, the cultural sights and
ruined cities of Sigiriya-Polonnaruwa, and Anuradhapura the
seat of the first Sri Lankan kings more than 2,000 years ago.
SriLankan Air Taxi also operates to both of Colombo’s
airports - the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake,
and Colombo Airport-Ratmalana.
SriLankan Airlines has received a string of world aviation accolades
recently, including “World’s Friendliest Cabin Staff,”
“Best Overall Inflight Entertainment (for a fleet size
of 20 or less),” and first runner up for the “World's
Best Cabin Staff.”
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August 10th, 2004 |
