SriLankan Airlines launches 7th Chinese Destination - Chengdu

SriLankan Airlines to operate a charter service to Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China on the 18 Feb, 24 Feb and 3 Mar 2015. The service will be deployed by A340-313X and A330-343E. SriLankan Airlines already operates to other China destinations : Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kunming and charter flights to Chongqing. Hopefully SriLankan will make schedule service to Chengdu and Chongqing in near future. Does any body know UL's Chengdu flight timings?

Here we go Banu;

A little drama on-board 4R-ADC reported in avherald

Air China to launch direct Chengdu-Colombo service

English.news.cn 2014-12-03 19:57:34 More

BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Air China, one of the country's leading carriers, is scheduled to start direct service between Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in February, the airline said Wednesday in a statement.

An Airbus A330 will fly the Chengdu-Colombo route each Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. A one-way journey between Chengdu and Colombo will take about five-and-a-half hours, Air China said.

Passenger flow between southwest China and Sri Lanka has grown quickly in recent years amid increasing trade and economic activity. China is now the third-largest trade partner for Sri Lanka, which opened a consulate in Chengdu in late 2009.

Meanwhile, more Chinese tourists are visiting the island country, known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean.

According to statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, the country had received a total of 106,800 Chinese tourists in the first ten months of this year, up 139 percent year on year.

Before the Chengdu announcement, Sri Lankan Airlines already operated flights to Colombo from four Chinese mainland cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/ch..._133830826.htm

Wow Good news!! but nothing showing in GDS and in Air China Website.

Good news if it's happened. I remember Hainan Airlines was planning to fly Beijing-Colombo but they cancelled the plan at last. Do you think Chengdu-Colombo route will become successful for Air China?

beijing-colombo dominate by ul, now more chinese use ul to reach middle east , male as well as some European destinations.

Wow this is great news. I hope it goes through this time. I remember Hainan Airlines talking about flying PEK-BKK-CMB a year or so ago, but that never got going. I feel like Air China could have success on this route, especially considering how much business SL and China are doing together these days, along with the significant increase in Chinese tourists visiting the country. With Air China's arrival, BIA will have a nice diversity of airlines. It would be nice if they flew via Beijing too, as they also fly to my local airport here, Washington Dulles. It would be a convenient one-stop flight back home to SL!

Transaero UN 9541 is on flightradar 24 reaching CMB from DME. It could be a charter flight.

Yeah channa, it's a seasonal flight will be operating on 5/12, 16/12, 26/12, 06/1, 16/1, 28/1, 06/2, 17/2, 27/2, 10/3, 20/3. These flights are operating on Tuesday and Fridays departing from Demodedovo 21:30 and landing in Colombo 06:00 (UN9541) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Return flights are departing on Wednesdays and Saturdays from Colombo 07:30 (UN9542) and landing in Demodedovo 16:40 on the same day. I heard last winter Transaero flew some charters to Colombo as well as Mattala.

4R-ALA back in service from maintanance as of today she operated on CMB>BKK>HKG UL422. Any idea if 4R-ALA got new seats like 4R-ALD? 4R-ALD seats looks lovely. Interior work for 4R-ALM has been completed and she flew the first acceptance flight yesterday so we can expect she will be coming to her new home (CMB) by the end Dec. But notsure why 4R-ALD not in service again since yesterday.

4R-ALD is flying to Paris today

Will UL & AC codeshare UL DXB Flight?

On return journey from Paris UL 564 ( 4R-ALD) delayed by more than 29 hrs. Could be a mechanical problem? It is flying now as UL 564D

President was moving out of Sri Lanka today, to India. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle6674452.ece

Perhaps that was the reason. Isn't it more or less accepted practice in Sri Lanka now that whenever he flies there will be massive delays?