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Bandaranaike International Airport and Koggala lagoon on 1 July 2013 and has grown significantly since then.
During the past year, Cinnamon Air carried over 4000 passengers on 900 scheduled flights to eight regular destinations and operated over 175 charter flights to 20 destinations. Ten of the destinations served were water aerodromes, making Cinnamon Air the first domestic carrier to commercially serve such a diverse range of inland points in Sri Lanka and the only scheduled airline to do so out of Colombo’s international airport.
Commending Cinnamon Air on its completion of one year of operations Director General of Civil Aviation and CEO of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka H.M.C. Nimalsiri said: “The airspace above us is a public asset which has vast potential to contribute in many aspects for the socio economic development of Sri Lanka.
“With the use of correct equipment, aviation can cater to any community in any part of the island having different needs. The floatplane is one such equipment which does not require dedicated land space but use existing water bodies to connect the affluent tourists and business traffic with remote areas with full of natural beauties where resources are scarce. It enables the flow of wealth, industries and employment to the needy people in such areas with least disturbance to the environment,” Nimalsiri said.
“In that context, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka wholeheartedly appreciates the very bold initiative and courage shown by Cinnamon Air and Saffron Aviation for investing in the operation of inland floatplane services which is vital part for development of internal air transport network. The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka wishes them all the success at the time their operations complete one year of eventless operations,” Nimalsiri added.
Commenting on the occasion of the first anniversary of the airline, Saffron Aviation (owners and operators of Cinnamon Air) Chairman and JKH Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunewardene said: “The advent of scheduled services by Cinnamon Air has been widely applauded by the trade both locally and internationally, with many of the largest travel companies offering Sri Lanka in Europe and the Middle East featuring Cinnamon Air 
as an option to their customers. Whilst we are pleased that Cinnamon Air has reached this important milestone with encouraging numbers for a start-up service, we are cognizant of the fact that there is much more to be done to grow the awareness of the product and thereby passenger numbers, in order to achieve the challenging goals that the joint venture partners of Cinnamon Air envisioned at the outset. We look forward to working with all stakeholders locally and internationally towards maintaining this vital offering in the overall tourism infrastructure of Sri Lanka.”
Elaborating on plans for the future, Cinnamon Air Director Romesh David said: “The year ahead will see Cinnamon Air continuing to grow its offering with a range of innovative products and some interesting new destinations. This will include the launch of ‘Cinnamon Air Holidays’ a set of unique ‘fly/drive’ tour options covering large swathes of the country in a short period of time, ‘Explorer’s Pass’ for visitors wanting multiple flight options with no restrictions and the creation of a water aerodrome in the beautiful Dutch Bay Lagoon at Kalpitiya to facilitate scheduled and charter flights to the northwest coast of Sri Lanka for the first time.”
All Cinnamon Air scheduled flights operate in code share with SriLankan Airlines, consequent to which they are also be available for sale throughout the SriLankan Airlines network and all Travel Agents around the world via Global Distribution Systems, under a “UL” designated flight number.
Cinnamon Air is a joint venture between Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate, John Keells Holdings, MMBL Leisure Holdings (a part of the Mercantile Merchant Bank Group) and Phoenix Ventures (parent of Phoenix Industries and the Brandix Group, Sri Lanka’s largest garment manufacturer). The airline operates a fleet of two Cessna 208 amphibian aircraft and one Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft, with scheduled services to key inland points in Sri Lanka. Cinnamon Air also offers charter services to and between all Airports and Water Aerodromes in Sri Lanka. The Airline is based out of Katunayaka where it operates a dedicated domestic terminal (within the precincts of the BIA) and also has its own purpose built hangar and maintenance facilities.
