Now boarding again: UL to Rome, Milan and Moscow

Several days after its original announcement of suspension of flights during off-peak season, SriLankan Airlines retracted saying services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will continue uninterrupted.

“SriLankan Airlines’ services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will remain uninterrupted as per the present schedule. The flight frequencies to these three destinations will also remain the same,” the national carrier said in a statement over the weekend.

On Wednesday last week SriLankan in announcing certain capacity adjustments to its European route network, said it will cancel Rome and Milan services during off-peak between 5 May and 26 June and will operate from 27 June until 9 September 2012.  The announcement also said flights to Zurich will be done away with during the off-peak from 1 May to 26 June and operate from 27 June until 31 August 2012.

The fresh statement however didn’t include Zurich which means the popular European hub will not be serviced during the off peak. Moscow wasn’t mentioned either in the original announcement though it was included in the subsequent statement.

Reports said that the cancellation of the suspension follows appeals made to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Colombo Page reported that President Rajapaksa directed the CEO of SriLankan Airlines Kapila Chandrasena, to continue the direct flights to Italy without temporary suspensions.

The President made this direction when Colombo Cardinal Rev. Malcom Ranjith Peiris informed the President at the Temple Trees about the national carrier’s decision to suspend flights to several European destinations.

Cardinal Peiris has pointed out to the President that the suspension of flights would cause severe inconvenience to the Sri Lankans living in Italy.

In its last week’s statement SriLankan said the adjustments were after taking into consideration the rise in fuel and operational costs and economic indicators in the EU region.

 “Changes are being gradually introduced in view of the commitments already made to passengers during the peak period and to facilitate the airline’s trade partners to adjust to the changes,” the national carrier said.

SriLankan will continue to review its operations to Switzerland and Italy and directed by forecasts, travel trends and developments in the Eurozone, to identify commercial viability, so that flights can be recommenced in these markets at an opportune time.

The airline continues to serve its traditional gateways of London, Paris and Frankfurt which serve a large clientele that fly direct and beyond to several destinations in Europe and the Americas.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), a decline in travel and tourism of 0.3% is expected across the European Union in 2012, although it will be propped up by the growth in newer emerging economies in the eastern bloc as well as Russia. As austerity measures are introduced in some countries, consumer spending is expected to reduce.

In a subsequent statement issued on Thursday night SriLankan Airlines also further clarified that certain capacity adjustments to its European route network, are being discussed in line with the off peak period in Europe.

With May and June in Europe being the traditional off peak, the airline will review its frequencies based on the actual demand in the countries to which SriLankan presently operates to.

The airline will continue to serve its traditional European gateways which serve a large clientele that fly direct and beyond to several destinations in Europe and the Americas, the statement added.

The reinstatement of normal services to Milan and Rome was after these clarifications.