We flew Brussels-Istanbul-Male-Colombo with Turkish Airlines. The aircraft was full. A lot of companies still fly triangle routes. For example the company I work for, Jetairfly flies Brussels-Amsterdam-Miami-Amsterdam-Bussels. This makes the flight profitable. With only Brussels or only Amsterdam you would not even fill a B737. Now the flights are performed by or B767 or B787.

Thanks for your response.

First of all, passenger load factor is NOT an indication of profitability of the flight, the yield is.

Secondly, anecdotal evidence can always be sourced, but we need to look at the bigger picture and the trend.

Point to point, direct flights is the trend and if you actually look at the number of direct flights operated in the world as opposed to triangular routes, you will see that the ratio is perhaps in the lower single digits.

Why most of you guys wants terminate FCO. The main issue there is not the pax.

The competitive Prices of ME Airlines. UL should can offer the same as them Flights will be full for sure.

I am not privy to all the financial information, but as far as I know, FCO is one of the highest loss making flights.

As you mentioned, if UL offers the same price for the direct ULH flight as the ME3 does for a connecting flight via their hub, UL may fill the plane, but at a significant loss. An 11 hour ULH flights is always more expensive than a 6 hour medium haul and a 5 hour short haul flight.

Now thats a suicide mission if there ever was one! Theres no way UL could ever compete against the ME3 from their home bases. Max might be onto something however in regards to routing flights via the Maldives.

The A320NEO isnt even in commercial service yet, so UL definitely doesn't have any in its fleet at the moment! However they have ordered 4x A321NEOs via leasing companies.

edthenna

UL should focus on revenue and flight planning optimization. Their pretty weak in these areas. For instance EY has saved considerable amounts by optimizing routes at the flight planning stage and the details are highlighted in their annual report 2014.

SriLankan Airlines flygreen voluntary carbon offset project cited as an aviation climate solution

SriLankan Airlines’ Voluntary Carbon Offset programme,"flygreen," launched on the World Environment day, this year, has been recognised as one of the Aviation climate solutions by ATAG (Air Transport Action Group).

Implemented under the "Planet-friendly SriLankan" initiative, this allows Airlines’ passengers to neutralise their individual carbon footprints by purchasing carbon credits. "flygreen" programme is monitored by IATA, and all its proceeds will be invested on a local conservation project in Sri Lanka, offering the environmentally conscious passengers the opportunity to contribute towards the Airline’s sustainable practices.

Michael Gill, Executive Director of the Air Transport Action Group, a cross-industry association that published the report, said: "Aviation plays a vital role in the world economy, providing connectivity for people and business. Our industry has also taken a lead in climate action, putting in place a comprehensive framework and goals to reduce emissions from air transport. The Aviation Climate Solutions are a set of case studies showing how different parts of the industry all over the world, including SriLankan Airlines are working together to reduce our climate impact."

SriLankan’s Head of Human Resources and Convener of the Green task team, Pradeepa Kekulawala said, "SriLankan Airlines has been steering many planet-friendly initiatives to contribute to the reduction of the industry’s carbon footprint. In today’s context, aviation accounts for 3% off the total carbon emissions. With the increase in demand for air travel, aviation industry will keep expanding; hence, it is the responsibility of the stakeholders to revoke the repercussions of carbon emissions as a damage control measure."

What do you think of the idea of UL cancelling FCO route & resume triangle flights to SYD/MEL 4 weekly? I am now thinking UL should keep the FRA route but do you think UL will benefit from CDG route from the AF's recent plan on longhaul flight reduction. I feel that UL should now be focussing on taking advantage of Japan, China routes coz we have good demand on this routes instead of Europe (exc LHR & FRA)

Air China to Start Beijing-Colombo Service

Colombo is Sri Lanka's capital and political, economic, cultural and transportation center. Taking a leisurely stroll through the streets of the South Asian coastal city imbued with exotic charms is truly a rewarding experience - flowers are in bloom, coconut trees sway gently in the breeze, fishermen are on stilts, sandy beaches extend, Buddhist pagodas and temples are dotted around, kind and friendly locals make you feel welcome, and aromas of spices waft into the nostrils. Hop onto a century-old train for the world's most beautiful train ride through green tea hills and along the blue sea; onboard, sip on a cup of fragrant Ceylon red tea and take in the breathtaking views along the way, and you will feel you are in a fairytale world.

Currently, China has become Sri Lanka's second largest trading partner and source of imports as well as its fastest growing source of travelers. Statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau suggest that about 12,000 Chinese travelers visited Sri Lanka in May, up 71.9% year on year. The forthcoming Beijing-Colombo service will open up more travel opportunities for business and leisure travelers from the northern and northeastern parts of China.

Friendship and trading between China and Sri Lanka have been taking place for centuries. Zhe He, the Ming dynasty's legendary sea navigator, paid repeated visits to Sri Lanka on his epic seafaring voyages to the seas in the west. Now, Sri Lanka is an important part of the "21st Century Silk Road on the Sea" on the Indian Ocean.

The timely opening of the Beijing-Colombo service will become an air bridge linking the two nations and contributing to their development in the fields of economy, trading, investment and tourism. Meanwhile, the new route is also one of Air China's most important moves in 2015 to cement its global presence with its hub in Beijing and expand its route network serving South and Southeast Asia.

The carrier will also start other new routes to destinations in the Asia Pacific region including Beijing-Mumbai, Beijing-Islamabad-Karachi and Beijing-Kuala Lumpur. These new routes will bring the number of destinations in the Asia Pacific region that the carrier serves up to 19, offering more travel options and benefits to business and leisure passengers traveling between Beijing and other cities in the Asia Pacific region.

About the flights

The flights, CA873/4, are operated three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 13:30 Beijing time and arrives in Colombo at 19:10 local time. The return flight departs from Colombo at 21:10 local time and arrives in Beijing at 07:00 the following day. The flights are to be operated with Airbus 330-300 aircraft. Its Business Class seats can turn into full-flat beds and its Premium Economy Class seats offer 120% of the legroom of the Standard Economy Class seats. The ergonomically designed standard Economy Class seats make travel more pleasant. All classes of service offer personal AVOD, keeping passengers entertained for the duration of the flight.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141017/152745LOGO

How many A340 s are left i see almost every other day they have scheduled on UL281 is it possible ?

I believe there is only 4R-ADF. And flights to Saudi Arabia is served by mixed of A332 and A340.

4R-ADF is the only A340 serving in the UL fleet.

Hi Rahal,

Any latest news on 4R-ADE? Is it ready to leave Sri Lanka? Mostly likely 4R-ADE will not be scrapped and find a new operator. ex-4R-ADG is now with Bank of Utah as rego : N322AK. So far 4R-ADA, ADB, ADC are being scrapped.

Hello...
ADE had its test flight scheduled today but it was then postponed to tomorrow (23) due to hostile weather conditions and few other reasons. Yes, almost all the maintenance tasks are completed now and it will fly back to europe soon provided the test flight is okay. I can confirm it will not be scrapped for sure because there are number of flight hours remaining before expiry.

Cheers

glad to see UL using New birds frequently to European destinations these days .

I believe UL should have given priority to MXP over FCO. This sector was planned on a request made by the SL Community in Italy to H.E. President some time back. The chunk of the traffic from Italy is VFR...and our community largely centered in places like Verona, Bologne and Venice the closest gateway for them is MXP. This is where ME3 are still having a larger market share of our ethnic traffic ex Italy.

SYD/MEL is a different story....we are late to recommence this sector. SL Diaspora and Ethnic traffic is not sufficient to sustain this route and it needs at least 60% of feeder traffic. BEY supported this sector when it was first operated. Now with ME3 and and others well connected in BEY, UL will have to look elsewhere. These are the results of not sustaining established long haul routes with proper revenue optimization strategy.

Re introducing SYD/MEL at this stage with current UL network and connectivity will only add further burden to the colossal losses UL is making and we the public are bearing with taxes.