Replacement of SriLankan fleet

Hi guys, just want to clarify some points. The CEO of SriLankan, stated that the new A330-300 will be replacing the A340's & the A350's will be replacing the existing A330-200's. But shouldnt it be the other way around. Shouldn't the A350's be used for the longer distant flights ?

QATAR Airways in Winter 2014/15 season expands planned capacity on Doha – Colombo route. Previously the airline planned 1 daily 777-300ER and 2 daily A320/321, however this has been revised to 1 daily each of 777-300ER, A321, A330.

QR658 DOH0100 – 0755CMB 321 D
QR660 DOH1225 – 1940CMB 330 D
QR662 DOH1930 – 0225+1CMB 77W D

QR663 CMB0355 – 0615DOH 77W D
QR659 CMB0855 – 1140DOH 321 D
QR661 CMB2110 – 2355DOH 330 D

ul a333 4r-all is doing todaycmb lhr cmb as ul 503/4

UL is codesharing on AMM route with RJ via AUH and MCT. KU flights have been increased upto 6 weekly to CMB as they are really benefitted after termination of RJ service to CMB.

It seems Middle East carriers are boosting the capacity to CMB i.e. EK operating 4 daily x B773, QR debuting 2 daily widebody (A333/B777) to CMB and GF planning to return to CMB. So UL's management has to act quickly in expanding the network otherwise it's going to be a big problem for them to compete in the market. In my opinion, UL better focus on routes like China, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Far East. As I mentioned already UL needs daily flights to PEK, PVG, CAN, HKG.. Chengdu is a profitable destination if they add to their network.

A333s will be replacing A343s in 2014-2016 and A359s will be replacing A332s in 2017-2019. A359s may have seats more than 300 so they will be utilised in high-density routes like Saudi Arabia, UK etc..

A343s have to be removed from the fleet as these 4 engined-birds are not fuel efficient.

Confused. I thought A333 cant fly CMB-LHR which is over 10hrs flying time.

Now adays most of the 330 aircrafts are used for long haul flights and 340s are used for medium haul flights. So he meant in future long haul routes will be operated by 350s and medium haul by 330s.

Ok...but why in the map it is showing CMB to AMM not via AUH and MCT

I am not sure about the flying time of the A333, but distance wise CMB-LHR is approx. 8,715 KM. The range of the A333 according to the AIRBUS site is 11,300 km. Can easily make it to MEL/SYD non-stop, African Continent. More info on the rage of A333 in the link below.

thanks bro. Any chance Srilankan using A319 on upcoming Nairobi and Addis Ababa routes with daily frequencies?

SriLankan don't have any orders for A319. If they go to Africa they will use A333 i guess.

This is what happens with the wrong people in charge. You can't get the right result with the wrong people!

A company culture of impunity and zero accountability - you reap what you sow!

Read the annual report - it's all there.

Losses $247 million ($676,000/day). Fuel costs decreased yet the losses increased.

Even with:-

-Operating into HRI with no passengers
-Presidential flights
-Subsisdising Mihin Lanka
-New aircraft orders

that still does not account for these losses imho.

There is a chart in the annual report that shows how the losses have increased dramatically since the government took over.

If they were really going to breakeven you would see a reduction in losses. The truth is this Airline will never make money.

The only way forward is bankruptcy. These losses are not sustainable.

If you read the annual report you will see that they had to cash a bond and they took a loss when they did this. The only reason they would do this is because they needed money to operate and this was their only source. It shows how close to the edge of the cliff they are.

Both Kapila and Nishantha are defending this sad state of affairs in the annual report - disgraceful.

You can ignore anything these people say - just more lies in the skies!

The annual report has not even been discussed in the Sri Lankan press as far as I can tell.

Between now and the end of the year a large group of Pilots will be leaving - these are the best and the brightest. These are the people you will need in the future if you want to expand.

Forget about any new routes - there's no money.

I'm not sure how much longer this can continue - I'd be surprised if they make it through the end of 2015.

Things should never have been allowed to get to this point - there needs to be some accountability!

A few points from me: 1. Cut of ties with Mihin Lanka, passengers being loaded on MJ tickets is ridiculous. 2. Do a proper Route Profitability and Yeild Optimisation exercise, I believe there are some routes that UL prices for J/C class are too low. With upgraded hardware on A330-200/300 a definite premium can be charged. 3. Staff utilization analysis. Is UL overstaffed? 4. Split UL into well managed sub units i.e. Catering, Cargo etc (I believe this is already done.). Manage each sub division as a independent profit centre and Cash Generating Unit (CGU). 4. Explore possibility of connecting AUS to UK. SL is strategically placed. Anyone can fly from AUS to UK and use CMB as a hub.. splits the journey nicely into two nice 10 and 11 hrs segments. 5. Optimise Cargo Market. 6. Promote SL/UL stopover holidays. 7. UL management structure ( I am not going to elaborate more on this.).

I can't see it changing anytime soon - current management will continue with their head buried in the sand. Or at least certain individuals will continue with their pet airline project.

The sad thing is that most of this loss gets paid for by the taxpayer. A significant majority of whom are not able to afford such luxuries as plane travel.

Flying to Australia directly is not going to solve much! There isn't enough demand throughout the year! Possible if they touch over in Singapore or Bangkok. Even Qantas is dramatically reducing services to Europe and I don't see how Sri Lankan is going to do any better! Malaysian and Singapore Airlines are struggling as well cutting down seats for most times of the year. It's very hard to break the Middle Eastern stranglehold dominated by Emirates!

Yield premiums can be added once there is consistency across the fleet in terms of product offered not with the various different configurations currently available.

As for Mihin yes it needs more planes and services to get into the black but its doing a wonderful service connecting SriLanka to markets such as Dhaka, Jakarta etc. which would never happen otherwise. There is plenty of transit traffic from these destinations. This is very similar to Thai Smiles and Thai Airways offering to Colombo (when there is high demand, switch the product). Sri Lankan would even be worse off without the transit traffic.

As for the pilots that are going, it may happen and everyone is free to choose. A Qantas A380 pilot earns close to 600,000 AUD a year for example but the prime minister of Australia earns 480,000 so yes there will be disparity in the offerings by different employers. It's a free market so you can't stop it! some of the most senior Air Lanka pilots (Elmo Jayawardena) joined Singapore Airlines in the 1990s, but it didn't lead to there being no pilots left in Sri Lankan to takeover. It's a cycle and there will be people moving in and out.