Special Kazakhstan flight airlifts 205 of its nationals and others

A special Sunday Airlines flight by the order of Kompas tour operator has airlifted 205 Kazakhstan nationals from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Saturday night.

“A single tour group consisting of 205 Kazakhstan tourists and nationals from other countries were taken back to Kazakhstan on Saturday via a special flight by Kazakh carrier Sunday Airlines from Colombo to Almaty International Airport,” Kazakhstan Honorary Consul in Sri Lanka Eshana de Silva told the Daily FT.

He said the flight was a special request from Government to Government to bring back the Kazakhstan nationals. “The particular tour group was to leave Sri Lanka on 23 March, but due to the curfew imposed last Friday, they advanced the departure through a special request to the Government.”

Annually over 2,000 Kazakhstan nationals enjoy holidays in Sri Lanka.

The flight left Colombo on 21 March at 9.34 p.m. from the BIA to Almaty International Airport. The consulate in Sri Lanka along with the Kazakhstan embassy in India coordinated the flight with Sri Lankan authorities.

Despite the partial shutdown of the BIA from 19 March, Sri Lanka Tourism said it will facilitate any country to take their nationals on holiday or work here back home via charter flights on requests.

Civil Aviation Authority CEO and Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri said apart from Kazakhstan flight, so far there has only been a request for a charter flight to take back a group of Russian tourists who have completed their holiday in Sri Lanka.

Immigration and Emigration Department sources estimate there are around 25,000 tourists in the country at present, and of them around 4,000 are Russians.