Also that Malindos timings are sandwiched between AK and MH which is a pretty smart move!
Plus OD being a Hybrid model would pose major competition for all the other three airlines namely MH which may have to downgrade its frequency of 10 flights per week.
As of now AK too has felt the pinch as they've downgraded from the D7 A330-300 to a regular AK A320-200

Let the price war begin!

As we discussed before , is Mihin Lanka going to get C919 ?

Future of Domestic Aviation

Any idea of how Domestic Flights in SriLanka are performing?
Form what I know,most of the Helitours flights on the RML-TRR-JAF route (3x weekly) are on full capacity....They are currently utilizing their Xian-MA60 turboprops

Wouldn't it be fruitful if they increase their fleet of MA60's and maybe add a few ARJ21-900's Later on? and probably re-brand

*a few shots captured back in December last year*

At RML


At TRR

Two reasons why Malindo would do alright on this sector

1) Fuel prices are low, so carriers can afford to have a little bloodbath. Add to that, Malindo operates from klia2, so it benefits from lower costs.

2) Malindo will not just be targeting the CMB-KUL market, but will also target CMB-Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia/Thailand/HK/PER markets, all of which can sufficiently fill the flight. Right now, I doubt anyone chooses AirAsiaX to fly CMB-KUL-SIN because of their horrendous transfer timings.

3) Some are right in saying that MH is in the worst spot ever, but don't forget UL & MH are in a codeshare partnership, they'll sustain off each other to make the flight work, and even if MH is the first to blink, it won't result in humongous losses in capacity for them, since they have UL to bank on.

The first flight is expected in 2016, Comac has to date received commitments for 517 C919s, the majority of which are from Chinese airlines and leasing companies.

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) is an Irish-American commercial aircraft financing and leasing company. It is the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company in the world.

GECAS is the only foreign client with 20 aircrafts on order.

Nice pictures Aaqib....probably taken during low visibility....As for Domestic Aviation in Sri Lanka, thanks to the Regulatory Authorities and Sajin Vass it was stagnant for last couple of years. I know of many investments in to Domestic Aviation that came during the previous regime was blocked by Sajin Vass. The very few new entities that started during the previous regime has to either get Sajins consent or look after his interests. Authorities acted blind and asked the investors to come through Sajin.
By the way, Heli tours operations has some issues, especially they have asked some passengers to sign indemnity? on the other hand ethically, Air force should not be doing commercial aviation?

Helitours received two MA60 turboprop passenger aircrafts, which has a seating capacity for 56 passengers - http://www.airforce.lk/news.php?news=849

They need to fly daily on RML-TRR-JAF route.

CMB Booking now open on Malindo website.

I tried to book flights from CMB-KUL return. Here is the result of the booking prices (inc taxes) in USD. Dep date : 23/12/2015 Return date : 21/01/2016.

Malindo - $277.71
AirAsia - $223.55
SriLankan - $404
Malaysia - $395.64

Has anyone flew on Malindo before? What's your opinion?

Hi banuthev.

Not hearing anything - it's all gone very quiet.

Hi Banu,
I too checked out a couple of fares,OD seems pretty decent for the fact that they have IFE,30Kg Baggage allowance plus a complimentary meal....planning on flying to KL Mid-December or early next year,will upload a trip report then

SriLankan to begin DOMESTIC FLIGHTS

SriLankan Airlines will negotiate with an Asian based air service company to begin a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) centre at the Mattala airport in Hambatota.

SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ajith Dias speaking to Daily News Business said this will be a joint venture.

“The proposal for an MRO at the Mattala international airport was in the pipeline for several years but it never got off. We are now in talks with an Asian counterpart to get this project off the ground at least now,’’ he said.

The Chairman said that an MRO will help the bottom line of the airline to a great extent as they could harness big business due to SriLankan Engineering’s track record.

He also disclosed that they are going to re-evaluate to begin domestic operations next year.

“We are hoping to acquire two 40 seater aircraft for this operation and hope to operate regular flights to selected domestic airports.’’ “There are12 domestic airports in Sri Lanka and with increased tourism we see great potential in this project.’’

Commenting on the re fleeting of the airline he said that by the end on this year they will have seven new aircraft increasing the total fleet to 20. “In the next two years we will get eight more.’’ Subsequently all ageing A340 aircraft will be retired and Sri Lankan will have a fleet less than 3 years of age.

All these aircrafts will be for SriLankan Airlines and not for Mihin.

With the new aircraft the national carrier will add more frequencies to key destinations. “The airline may not look at new routes but will increase frequencies to existing destinations that include China, London and India.’’

To date Sri Lanka has flown 600,000 passengers from the European sector and in total are looking for a target of 3.5 million passengers for 2015. Next year’s target will be 4 million passengers.

Commenting on profits he said they can look at a breakeven point in the next two and half years. “the new aircraft in away will help on fuel but leases too will have to be paid.’’

He said the one world alliance has done the airline good as it could now cater to a bigger market.

Asked to comment on investigations carried against the former Chairman and CEO he said they are progressing and he too is summoned from time to time to give information.

- See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=business/....H318DKTl.dpuf

SriLankan Airlines Next A330-300 4R-ALP (F-WWCO) is now airborne one again.

It's a second acceptance flight. Most probably 4R-ALP will be ferried to CMB after completing it's third acceptance flight.

Currently UL is operating domestic flights with a joint venture with Cinnamon Air who have the ambhibians with capacity of 8 seats. It seems to be UL is thinking connect especially KKS & TRR with this 40 seater. Do you know what type of aircraft they are planning acquire? Will it fly directly from CMB? Helitours have two MA60s but current operation is 3 weekly on RML-TRR-KKS. What a waste!

These 8 new aircraft definately includes 4 X A321 NEOS and 3 X A359s but notsure which is the 8th aircraft. 4 X A321 NEOS are coming to replace 4R-ABK, 4R-ABL, 4R-ABQ & 4R-ABR. 3 X A359s are replacing 4R-ALH, 4R-ALJ & ??? . But they delayed the A359 delivery from Jul 2016 to 2017 I think.

Guangzhou already been confirmed to increase from 4 to daily and London from daily to 9 weekly. UL is better restructure the network & focus on profitable destinations.

Hope UL brings in either a couple of ATR42-600's or preferably the Bombardier Dash8 Q-200's which would be ideal for domestic service.
I do agree with the wastage of resources by Helitours as they operate only on Monday Wednesdays and Fridays
Getting a seat is pretty tough due to all the flights been booked well in advance.They should really think on increasing their frequency as the demand is very high and the fares being quite affordable.

It will be better if SriLankan can codeshare with Helitours and they should launch daily services on CMB-TRR-JAF route.