SriLankan Airlines deploys bigger aircraft to carry Lankan devotees

SriLankan Airlines had deployed an Airbus A340 as opposed to A320 for its services to Bangalore on Tuesday and yesterday given the increased demand for seats including by grieving devotees of the deceased Sai Baba.

An A340 has around 296 economy class seats as opposed to 150 in A320.

The exact number of people who specially flew to attend the funeral couldn’t be confirmed however.

On a request made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa SriLankan Airlines on Monday announced that special arrangements have been made by the airline to carry all Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba devotees who wish to pay their last respects to the Bhagwan’s remains in India.

It said additional capacity will be made available on UL’s daily flights to Bangalore from Tuesday, 26 April onwards, in order to accommodate all devotees who wish to fly to India to pay final homage to their spiritual leader.

Whilst increasing the airline’s capacity to Bangalore SriLankan also said adding a special charter would be considered if there was an overwhelming demand by all the Bhagwan’s devotees in Sri Lanka.