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SriLankan Air Taxi now flies
to Ampara and Weerawila |
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SriLankan
Air Taxi has launched flights to Ampara and Weerawila, increasing
the number of domestic destinations it services to ten.
Launched last December, SriLankan Air Taxi already flies to
Kandy, Bentota, Galle, Trincomalee, Sigiriya-Polonnaruwa (Hingurakgoda),
and Anuradhapura. The amphibious eight-seater Cessna Caravan
aircraft lands on waterdromes in Kandy (Lake Victoria), Koggala
(Koggala Lake) and Bentota (Bentota Lagoon), and uses existing
airfields at the other destinations. Passengers to and from
Colombo can choose either of the capital city’s two airports
- at Katunayake and Ratmalana.
SriLankan Air Taxi plans to expand its fleet with two more amphibious
aircraft shortly in order to cater to tourist demand during
the winter 2004/05 season.
Flights are scheduled according to passenger requirements and
can be chartered between any of these ten destinations. (One
of the most popular routes is between Galle and Kandy). The
furthest destination, Trincomalee, is only 45 minutes flying
time as compared to about seven hours by road. The Air Taxi
provides an ideal opportunity for travellers to capture the
beauty of Sri Lanka from an aerial view. With travel time being
so short, day excursions to almost any part of Sri Lanka are
possible.
The service to Ampara is expected to be beneficial to businessman
and people working with NGOs in the Ampara district, and also
to both foreign and domestic tourists bound for the popular
resort and surfing location of Arugam Bay which is two hours
drive from Ampara.
Through Weerawila, SriLankan Air Taxi will service tourist traffic
to hotels in Hambantota (30 minutes by road), visitors to the
National Park in Yala (45 minutes by road) and also local pilgrim
traffic to Kataragama (40 minutes by road) the holy city for
Buddhists and Hindus.
In addition new areas have been earmarked for operations to
offer more flexibility of destinations for the passengers. SriLankan
Air Taxi plans to begin operations to Nuwara Eliya within the
next two months, following many requests from tourists and businessmen.
Another landing spot is also being located in the deep south
to serve hotels at Dickwella and Tangalle, and also on the east
coast at Arugam Bay, the emerging tourist location in the country
where the airline recently sponsored an international surfing
contest.
The airline intends to begin scheduled flights to the southern
beach areas during the winter 2004/05 season, to provide convenient
connections to passengers on international flights.
Another product that SriLankan Air Taxi will offer shortly will
be scenic tours that will cover the hill country, cultural triangle
and the beach areas of Sri Lanka. These will be marketed through
tour operators, hotels, SriLankan Holidays and the SriLankan
Airlines website.
On certain flights, SriLankan will offer special discounted
fares, which are displayed on the Air Taxi website. It is also
possible to charter the seaplane with the charter fee being
USD 1,000 per flying hour irrespective of the number of passengers.
For more information, log onto the air taxi site <www.srilankan.aero/airtaxi>
or e-mail airtaxi@srilankan.aero
SriLankan Airlines, which has been expanding rapidly over the
last two years, now flies to 42 destinations in 23 countries
across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The latest destination
to be launched was Calicut (its 10th destination in India),
while the airline has announced plans to launch services to
China in November, and several more cities in India.
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July 28th, 2004 |
