Air traffic to Colombo soars with five more airlines from December

• Malaysian Airlines, Azur Airlines, Air Astana, Lot Polish Airlines and Neos Airlines to resume flights to Colombo
• Post-pandemic 25 international airlines have begun operations into Sri Lanka
• Govt. in negotiations with more pre-COVID airlines whilst approaching new markets via charter flights 
• Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga says working closely with Ambassadors to explore new market opportunities to revive COVID-hit industry 
• Efforts underway to increase direct flights to the biggest source market: India

By Charumini de Silva

Following the aggressive promotions as well as participation in top-trade shows, the air traffic to Sri Lanka has risen sharply with multiple international airlines operating into Colombo.

With five more new airlines starting from December, the total international airlines operating into Sri Lanka will increase to 25. 

Flag carrier of Malaysia – Malaysian Airlines will commence operations from 1 December, Russia’s – Azur Airlines and Kazakhstan’s – Air Astana will operate direct flights to Sri Lanka twice a week from 3 December, while popular European airlines Poland’s flag carrier – Lot Polish Airlines will commence twice weekly on 8 December and Italy’s – Neos Airlines on 15 December. 

In addition to the national carrier – SriLankan Airlines, Qatar Airways tops the table with four-daily flights and 28 schedules per week, followed by Emirates with 26 flights per week and Fly Dubai with nine flights per week. 

Post-pandemic a total of 37 international airlines operated to Sri Lanka and the Tourism Ministry is actively engaged in negotiations with all the airlines that operated in to the country pre-COVID, to encourage them resume operations, whilst also approaching to attract new markets via charter flights during the winter season.

“The optimism for travel has begun. All top airlines operating to Colombo have seen an uptick and we hope the momentum will continue,” Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga told the Daily FT.

In November, four international airlines resumed operations to Colombo, these include France flag carrier – Air France, Swiss leisure airline – Edelweiss, Russia’s flag carrier – Aeroflot and Tata-SIA joint venture – Vistara Airlines.

After nearly 30 years, French flag carrier, Air France, returned to Sri Lanka on 5 November with three weekly direct flights between Paris and Colombo., while Sweden’s Edelweiss will resume operations on the same day with a weekly flight, while Russia’s Aeroflot commenced operations on 1 November with twice a weekly. 

Vistara Airlines of Tata-SIA Airlines joint venture resumed its thrice-a-week services to Colombo from New Delhi on 19 November, the only airline in India that offers premium economy cabins for passengers.

“We also work closely with the Ambassadors to discuss new opportunities in markets to revive the tourism industry post-pandemic,” Ranatunga said. 

The Minister also said they were exploring to increase the direct flights to the biggest source market – India, with an objective to attract more Indian travellers. 

“We are exploring multiple opportunities to expand the frequencies and destination operations of the SriLankan Airlines to India,” he said. 

Pre-COVID, SriLankan Airlines operated over 100 flights weekly to 11 key destinations in India. 

Qatar Airways, Emirates, Fly Dubai, Air India, Gulf Air, Rossiya Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Saudia, Air Arabia, Oman Airlines, Air Asia, Air France, Etihad Airways, Jazeera Airways, IndiGo, Aeroflot, China Eastern Airlines, Edelweiss Air and Kuwait Airways are currently operating in to Colombo.