Like ecureilx said I don't see anyone taking over MJ since integration may be complex. But theres nothing stopping the government/UL from collaborating with a new Jetstar Sri Lanka operation and closing down MJ. However a new airline should be managed independently of UL- like Jetstar and Qantas and Jetstar Japan and JAL.

Never we don't need to give life to death airline.. I think it's ezy for us to give new birth ...

During a meeting with the Seychelles President, Sri Lankan President who is on a visit to the island nation has confirmed that Sri Lanka's national carrier SriLankan Airlines is keen to start flights to Seychelles this year.

President Michel has welcomed the decision, adding that the air links would boost trade and tourism between Sri Lanka and Seychelles. "The new flights will surely open doorways for business, tourism, cooperation and trade exchanges between Seychelles and Sri Lanka. Seychelles can become a gateway to Africa and other parts of the world. The air links will be a catalyst to ensure increased cooperation between our two countries," President Michel has said.

The details of the new air links will be further discussed in the near future. (Colombo Page)

Tiger Airways to pull out from Sri Lanka this September

Singapore’s leading low-cost carrier Tiger Airways has decided to terminate operations in Sri Lanka from September, a year after its launch.
Citing commercial reasons, the airline has made the decision three weeks ago and has already started conferring with customers that have booked for the period after.
MAC Aviation Services Ltd., the General Sales Agent for Tiger Airways, noted that there would be no flights from Sri Lanka after 30 August. A total of 700 passengers have made bookings for the period between August and December 2013.
MAC Holdings Aviation Division General Manager Thisum Jayasuriya told the Daily FT that the key reason for pulling out was the yield.
Even though flights from Sri Lanka were full, money gained per person was not viable for the airline to operate further, he said.
Having launched on 31 May last year with much fanfare, the airline operates four flights a week and has transported approximately 35,000-40,000 passengers within the year. From Colombo key destinations for Tiger Airways are Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Bali and Indonesia.
“In terms of the numbers, we have achieved our targets,” Jayasuriya said. “The carriers are 180 seaters and comes half full from other destinations. We only have to fill 50-60% of the aircraft, which we have done successfully.”
With the 80-85% load factor the carrier runs on, the airlines should ideally be able to breakeven and make profit. However, two key reasons prevent this, he said. “This is a price sensitive market. Major airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, etc. are selling low cost fares in this market, over and above the onward passengers and cargo handling. This makes it hard for budget carriers to operate.”
The Sri Lankan aviation system currently has no concessions for low-cost airlines, which also makes it harder for those carriers to compete among the bigger names, he said. Mentioning this as the second reason, Jayasuriya noted that airport and aviation ground handling charges were the same for all airlines. “Right now it is not viable for low-cost airlines to operate from Sri Lanka. I believe these were the same reasons for AirAsia to pull out as well.”
Low-cost airlines currently in Sri Lanka include Air Arabia, flydubai, SpiceJet, Air India Express and the State-owned budget carrier Mihin Lanka.
Jayasuriya said: “If the Government can come up with a system that considers giving concessions for budget carriers, it will encourage those present to stay on as well as lure in other names to come in and serve our market.”
For those who have pre-booked for the months after August, Tiger Airways has decided to give a full refund to passengers, or if they wish, they could even change the ticket and bring it forward to a date before the termination of services with no additional chargers.
Tiger Airways operates a unique low-cost business model that involves removing non-essential costs, ensuring that customers pay only for what they actually need, while maintaining the highest standard of safety, security and punctuality.
One of Asia’s leading low-cost carriers, Tiger Airways aims to build its fleet to 68 aircraft by December 2015. Operating from Singapore and Australia, Tiger Airways’ network extends to over 30 destinations across 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

good move

I doubt that will happen, seeing some of the Mihin prices, ex-SIN and CGK !!! You buy Mihin, travel in UL, what other airline can beat that ?? Full service for LCC fares .. !!!

And I have seen the 340s also in KUL .. not of recent times though ..

Some interesting news, was chatting to three EY captains yesterday and they said EY is going widebodied on their CMB flights from August 1st. I have eargerly been awaiting this day as I avoided EY simply because they used a 320. They said the airline will not make an annoucement which I find odd as it is a capacity increase and they usually do announce these. Can someone check the various databases and see if EY is now showing 330's instead of 320's from August onwards? Thanks

Thought EY already sending widebody aircraft to CMB. Saw once EY's B777 taking off from CMB. Notsure that was a passenger or cargo version.

Good move definately if Seychelles is a profitable route for SriLankan Airlines. But I can note that no ONEWORLD alliance member currently flying to Seychelles. Also Qatar Airways will withdraw Seychelles service from September 1 this year. Perhaps SriLankan Airlines can add Seychelles as it prepares to join ONEWORLD.

That's strange. I heard somewhere that they were going to decrease the number of flights, but now they are going to increase? Interesting. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the technical stopover will be in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, as the A321s are unable to fly the entire way without refueling. I wonder why they are now breaking the route into two parts.. will they receive traffic rights between UAE and Colombo I wonder? I wonder why they are downsizing from A330s to A321s on the CMB routes.

That is good news. Several of my family members recently took the Etihad flight on an A320. Beside the fact that the flight departs Colombo at 4:25 AM, the A320 is not nearly as comfortable as their wide bodied aircraft are, particularly if you are trying to sleep as many people would want to do on such a late night/early morning flight. Etihad used to send their A330s to Colombo back in the day prior to halting operations temporarily in the early 2000s. Hopefully we will see the return of these beautiful birds to CMB!

I am sure you heard the news from this Air Sri Lanka Forum - http://www.airsrilanka.org/forum/sho...ull=1#post5947 . Looks like RJ trying to use A320/A321 on CMB route due to shortage of widebody aircraft for medium/long-haul services. As per RJ sources, RJ has only seven widebodies that includes three brand new A330-200s and four of the 20 years old A340-200s.

Yes UL can connect Seychelles with other oneworld destinations and UL can grab the european market with easy connection via CMB. All depend with Fleet capacity.

will they receive traffic rights between UAE and Colombo I wonder?

As per the GDS they dn't have Traffice Rights from AAN -CMB

This is a greenfield market if UL can connect LHR and FRA flights to Seychelles then this could be more profitable than flying to MEL