Air China to Start Beijing – Colombo Flight from late-Oct 2015

by JL


Update at 0400GMT 07JUL15

Star Alliance member Air China from 27OCT15 will launch its 2nd route to Sri Lanka, where it’ll offer Beijing – Colombo operation. This 3 weekly service is scheduled to be operated by Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

CA873 PEK1330 – 1910CMB 333 246
CA874 CMB2110 – 0700+1PEK 333 246

Competiton for SriLankan Direct Colombo-Peking Route.

All thanks to current UL management for serving nonstop flights to Beijing and Shanghai. Previously these flights were routed via Mattala and Bangkok. Hopefully UL would now up the frequency of Beijing to five weekl but currently four weekly.

flydubai Adds Male – Colombo Sector from Sep 2015

flydubai from September 2015 is adjusting service to Maldives and Sri Lanka, including new 3 weekly Male – Colombo sector from 03SEP15. Overall operations to Male remains unchanged at 6 weekly from Dubai (including one-stop service).

FZ559 DXB0130 – 0655MLE0835 – 1030CMB1130 – 1440DXB 73H 146
FZ555 DXB1610 – 2230CMB2345 – 0040+1MLE0145+1 – 0505+1DXB 73H 246


Another CMB-Male currently UL,EK,TK,KE,MU and FZ will be 6th operator (Earlier also had 6th until BA exit)

It seems one of MJ 321 is reconfigured. Saw a photo of business class seats in Facebook.

What a mess

Wow! any pic?

SriLankan Airlines team visits Vizag

Representatives from SriLankan Airlines visited the Port City on Tuesday to study the potential demand for flights to Vizag from the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

Team members Mohan Meegolle, Ranga Gunasekara and Priya Epitawala interacted with Vizag MP K Hari Babu, Vizag Development Council (VDC) vice-chairman O Naresh Kumar and international tour operators in the city as part of the study.

During the interaction, Hari Babu told the airline's representatives that people of Vizag and surrounding districts have been spending huge amounts on foreign trips to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and there is a lot of scope for tourist traffic to Sri Lanka as well if the carrier operates flights to and from Vizag thrice a week. The MP also assured full support to the team.

The SriLankan Airlines representatives said that they will visit the city again and interact with officials of various departments, including tourism, as well as hospitality players, among other sectors, to take a final decision. The team will interact with members of the Air Travellers' Association (India) and officials of Vizag International Airport on Wednesday.

What happened to CTU-CMB flights? Are the still on operations?

Flydubai increases Dubai - Colombo service upto three daily effective September 2015.

DXB-CMB - FZ559 - 01:30 - 10:30 - 146 VIA MLE
DXB-CMB - FZ553 - 08:00 - 14:15 - 7
DXB-CMB - FZ555 - 16:10 - 22:30 - 246
DXB-CMB - FZ557 - 18:55 - 01:10 - 1234567
DXB-CMB - FZ551 - 22:50 - 05:00 - 1234567

CMB-DXB - FZ558 - 02:10 - 05:15 - 1234567
CMB-DXB - FZ551 - 05:55 - 10:35 - 1234567 VIA HRI
CMB-DXB - FZ559 - 11:30 - 14:40 - 146
CMB-DXB - FZ554 - 15:15 - 18:20 - 7
CMB-DXB - FZ555 - 23:45 - 05:05 - 246 VIA MLE

Yes, Air China is still operating Colombo with direct flights from Chengdu. Four weekly onboard A330-200.

Any possibilities new Beijing-Colombo route will become successful for Air China ? i remember Hainan Airlines previously planned this route but it didn't go ahead with a plan.

So what's the seat config of MJ planes after reconfiguration?

Needs to be shut down immediately - imho.

This kind of thing will get Sri Lanka downgraded on an ICAO audit. Surprised Sri Lanka hasn't been downgraded to Cat 2 yet.

Once again a culture of impunity and zero accountability.