03.11.2020 - 05:04 UTC
FitsAir (8D, Colombo Int'l) has wet-leased an A321-200 for cargo-only flights out of Colombo Int'l to "support the local export market and boost transhipment volumes".
The Sri Lankan cargo specialist secured the aircraft from Lithuania's Avion Express (X9, Vilnius). LY-VEH (msn 1366) was ferried from Vilnius via Ras al Khaimah Int'l to Colombo on October 16, 2020, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. It has yet to be deployed commercially on behalf of FitsAir.
The aircraft will join FitsAir's in-house fleet of a single ATR72-200(QC) and two Cessna (single turboprop) C208B Grand Caravans. Besides its core cargo charter operations, the Sri Lankan airline also plies a single scheduled domestic passenger route between Colombo Ratmalana and Jaffna, the ch-aviation capacities module shows.
According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Avion Express operates a total of six A321s, of which two are currently wet-leased to Air Mediterranean (MV, Athens Int'l), one to Holiday Europe (5Q, Sofia), and two are in storage. The...
25.09.2020 - 03:59 UTC
Maldivian (Q2, Malé) and FlyMe (Maldives) (VP, Malé) will use Colombo Ratmalana airport rather than the main Sri Lankan gateway of Colombo Int'l once they resume scheduled flights to the island, Sri Lankan Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga told a media briefing.
Ranatunga underlined that around 9,000 Maldivian citizens live near Ratmalana airport, which used to be Sri Lanka's main international gateway and is located much closer to Colombo's city centre.
Besides routes to/from the Maldives, Ranatunga also identified southern India as a potential target for Ratmalana. However, he did not name specific cities or airlines.
Currently, all scheduled international flights serve Sri Lanka via Colombo Int'l. The government has been trying to boost secondary airports, namely Ratmalana, Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Hambantota. Both Alliance Air (India) (9I, Mumbai Int'l) and FitsAir (8D, Colombo Int'l) have considered launching services from Jaffna, in the north of Sri Lanka, to southern India, capitalising on the fact that both regions have predominantly Tamil populations. However, these plans...
15.09.2020 - 23:20 UTC
Sri Lanka's Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranatunga, decreed on September 8, 2020, that all landing and parking charges at Hambantota and Colombo Ratmalana airports have been waived for one year in a bid to attract foreign airlines.
The Ministry of Finance is separately working on enacting the waiver of airport tax at Hambantota airport, having already received the go-ahead from the prime minister. The government has also resolved to subsidise fuel for foreign airlines serving the airport. Tamil-language daily Virakesari reported that negotiations with state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation are ongoing.
Ranatunga said that the government hoped to secure sustained international traffic to Hambantota within the next six months. The Director of Operations at Airport and Aviation Services Ltd (AASL), Shehan Sumanasekara, told the Business Times that the focus would be on cargo services, although passenger flights were also targeted. AASL has reportedly held "serious-level discussions with IndiGo Airlines, Air India, flydubai, and MAI - Myanmar Airways International", as well as with Emirates.
Sumanasekra added that AASL would look at options...
10.09.2020 - 23:55 UTC
Fly Lankan Asia (Colombo Int'l) has filed an application for an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) and an Airline Licence (AL) in Sri Lanka, seeking to operate both domestic and international scheduled flights.
According to a brief public notice published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), the start-up's accountable director is Air Vice Marshal PDJ Kumarasiri while its four directors are Sivanathan Sivarasa (formerly with the now-defunct cargo specialist AeroLanka), KMDSN Ranaweera, DJGS Edirisinghe (a former director of the state-owned Airport and Aviation Services of Sri Lanka), and NJ Weerakoon. The airline plans to trade as Fly Lankan.
The CAASL did not reveal any further details regarding the content of the carrier's application, including its proposed fleet or business model.
If certified, Fly Lankan would become Sri Lanka's third carrier authorised to operate scheduled international routes after SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo Int'l) and FitsAir (8D, Colombo Int'l).
