Cinnamon Air declares open new maintenance hangar at BIA

Chief Guest, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retired) G.A. Chandrasiri (right) and John Keells Holdings Chairman Krishan Balendra declare open the newly built hangar

Cinnamon Air, Sri Lanka’s premier domestic airline and the only airline in the country to offer a scheduled flight service covering a wide range of popular tourist destinations, held the opening of its new aircraft maintenance hangar at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

The new hangar is located alongside Cinnamon Air’s exclusive domestic passenger terminal at BIA, which makes Cinnamon Air the only domestic airline to have a dedicated terminal and an aircraft maintenance hangar within the premises of BIA.

The Chief Guest, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retired) G. A. Chandrasiri who declared open the newly-built hangar, said that he was proud to be associated with the venture and provided an account of new airlines that have decided to provide services to Sri Lanka. 

Expressing his thoughts on the occasion, Cinnamon Air CEO Sean Dwight stated, “Cinnamon Air has demonstrated continuous enhancements to its service, which is further exemplified by the relocation of engineering and maintenance to the new hangar. By moving to this new facility located virtually adjacent to our terminal, we have substantially shortened aircraft taxiing times, thereby avoiding the costly and time-consuming requirement of crossing the runway, which international flights use while enjoying many other operational benefits. 

“Through infrastructure upgrades such as the relocation of engineering and maintenance facilities, we are gearing ourselves to offer a more streamlined service, which will be tremendously valuable when the demand for domestic air travel in Sri Lanka increases. Furthermore, with both facilities being located within the country’s premier international airport, the value of our brand is boosted.”

Cinnamon Air (www.cinnamonair.com), owned and operated by Saffron Aviation Ltd., is a joint venture between Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate, John Keells Holdings PLC, MMBL Leisure Holdings (a Member of the MMBL-Pathfinder Group) and Phoenix Ventures (parent of the Brandix Group). In addition to scheduled flights, Cinnamon Air also offers charter services to and between all Airports and Water Aerodromes in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, all Cinnamon Air scheduled flights operate in codeshare with SriLankan Airlines. Consequently, tickets are also available for sale throughout the SriLankan Airlines network and travel agents worldwide via Global Distribution Systems, under a “UL” designated flight number.

Since the inception of Cinnamon Air’s domestic airline operations in 2013, it has operated a dedicated aircraft maintenance hangar - located within the precincts of Sri Lanka Air Force base in Katunayake – with a team of experienced professionals for servicing its fleet of Cessna 208 series aircraft. However, to further streamline its flight movements and enhance operational efficiencies, Cinnamon Air leased the site of the new hangar from Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) to bring aircraft maintenance closer to the airline’s domestic terminal.