ohk.... SEZ is a expensive tourist destination where u have to spend bundles on hotels/accommodation and sight seeing.......so why waste money by traveling on a major airlines (UL).......flyin on a LCC is more advisable

Unfortunately, this is NOT how it works. If one wants to save money they will take a budget carrier to a CHEAP destination where their dollars (Rupees) stretch farther.

How many Maruti 800 have you seen being valet parked in the Colombo Hilton?

Sri Lankan Airlines leases three A350-900s

http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/n...900s/230851370

Oct 09, 2013 (LBO) - State-run SriLankan Airlines said it had leased three Airbus A350-900 aircraft from US-based International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), as part of a re-fleeting program where another four will be bought directly from the manufacturer.

"...[W]e believe that this new generation, fuel-efficient aircraft will play a leading role in the airline’s long-haul operations in time to come," SriLankan Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena said in a statement.
The A350-900s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines and will on an operating leases with delivery set for July and September 2016.

"We believe these aircraft will provide valuable flexibility and efficient performance for the airline’s long-haul operations," ILFC chief executive Henri Courpron said.

ILFC is a unit of American International Group (AIG). SriLankan is also acquiring another six A330 aircraft directly.

ILFC already has two A330-200s and one A340-300 on lease with SriLankan

Totally agree with u !!! SEZ is an up market tourist route hence no body would want to fly Low Cost to such a fancy and expensive route since flying LCC doesn't give any one status. That's the reason only EK/EY fly from the M.E and QR stopped/stopping SEZ becoz of low yields i assume.

Hence MJ to SEZ is a STUPID thing and UL to SEZ is a better option. And UL could have taken some sort of market share that QR is gonna leave behind becoz of their service suspension to SEZ. And I'm wondering how on earth will MJ get the so called share of the market to SEZ by just only flying to IXM and hoping to get some pax from there to SEZ, plus, even though UL traffic from China, NRT were to fly on MJ metal to SEZ from CMB, still it doesn't make sense at all. I was hoping to see the MONARA in SEZ and NOT the so called LOTUS. XD

this flight might cater the filthy rich ones in india.........UL and MJ are code share partners, together they serve 10 destinations in india (incl. Delhi).....indian tourists can fly to Seychelles via Colombo (+visit some exotic places of interest in SL lyk national parks/wildlife sanctuaries , which Middle-Eastern destinations lack)............many bangladeshi tourist r also tryin out several new holiday destinations, MJ has a CMB-DAC-CMB flight as well............if this new route is advertised in all existing MJ destinations it might work out, hu knws.... shit happens ...... now lets hope it happens 4 gud

Sorry bro; you are an optimist like the UL managment. codeshare is one thing but no one want to pay full service airline rate for a LCC metal. Tourists who visit SEZ; they want to visit SEZ and not to run around Sri Lanka. some might visit SL; but that would be small minority. As you might be aware this is not a destination promoted by flydubai; this is sole EK route...that should say something. If SEZ was operated by UL it would be a Oneworld destination as well.

Well said Speedbird. @Dilushasg-bdavi: if SEZ was also to be operated by LCC's don't u think air arabia or flydubai would have started flying already. In addition, if SEZ was to be operated by an LCC don't u think at least Air Asia X the long haul lcc of the main line LCC Air Asia would have started flying to SEZ..XD

I think Mihin should go Daily on Dhaka, Dubai, and Shajah, Bahrain, and Maudrai. It already serves daily to Jakatra. These were there is demand and there are bigger travelling populations to make money on these routes. It should not serve SEZ but Naroibi instead as that way you can make money from the Indian expatriate community in East Africa.

Along with everyone else I am sure we do not want to see state resources spent wastefully.. but the filthy rich Indians are going to want to prefer to sit in EK, QR biz or first class products and enjoy their journey!

Mauritius keen to establish air links with SL - http://www.dailymirror.lk/business/e...s-with-sl.html

Mauritius, which is positioning towards becoming an ocean economy, is bullish on direct air-links with Sri Lanka. "Expediting the signing of Air Services Agreement and exploring possibilities of extending Sri Lankan Airlines' flights to Mauritius will boost bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and Mauritius significantly" stressed an upbeat Arvin Boolell, the Mauritius Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration & International Trade on 05 July in Mauritius.

Good News from Qatar Airways: The fligthts QR 658/659 will switch from the 2nd January onwards from a (narrow) A321 to a comfortable 777-ER! So we will finally have flat beds in Business on the Doha - Colombo route!

Qatar Airways is changing their Colombo flight numbers from 300/302/304 to 658/660/662 from 27th October 2013. I thought QR is taking advantage by switching to widebody aircraft because Emirates is reducing the Colombo service in Early 2014 due to the DXB Runway Expansion Project. Please confirm.

But the DXB Runway Expansion is from May 1st to End of July 2014. Do you think that this is the reason for the aircraft change, because they start already in January to use a widebody? I hope so much that the 777 is not only temporarily....

ILFC & SriLankan Airlines Sign 12-Year Lease Agreement for Three A350-900s

International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), a wholly owned subsidiary of American International Group, Inc., announced today it has signed a 12-year lease agreement with SriLankan Airlines (SriLankan), the national carrier of Sri Lanka, for three A350-900 aircraft. The aircraft will support the airline's long-haul fleet renewal.

"ILFC values our strong and important relationship with SriLankan," said ILFC Chief Executive Officer Henri Courpron. "We look forward to contributing to SriLankan's fleet renewal and its continued success. We believe these aircraft will provide valuable flexibility and efficient performance for the airline's long-haul operations."

"This would be the first time the A350 family aircraft will enter our fleet, and it marks a significant step towards the growth of the airline," said SriLankan Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena. "SriLankan has placed direct orders for four additional A350-900 aircraft with Airbus, and we believe that this new generation, fuel-efficient aircraft will play a leading role in the airline's long-haul operations in time to come. We are indeed pleased that ILFC will be providing us with the first three aircraft, and look forward to building on the strong ties we have established with ILFC."

The A350-900s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 and are part of an operating lease agreement, which has an anticipated delivery timeline between July and September 2016.