Thanks for the pics!

SriLankan Airlines named Best Full Service Airline in Central & South Asia

SriLankan Airlines was recognized as one of Asia’s finest carriers when it was named Best Full Service Airline in the Central and South Asian region at the Future Travel Experience Asia Awards 2015 in Singapore recently.

Ajith Dias, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, said: "The new management of SriLankan Airlines has embarked upon a journey to turn the airline’s fortunes around with a total commitment to delighting our customers, both in the air and on the ground. We expect this award to be the first of many in the near future."

SriLankan was among just five full service airlines which received awards at this prestigious event. The other winners in the Full Service Airline category included globally reputed brands such as Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand and Qatar Airways.

SriLankan’s CEO Capt. Suren Ratwatte said: "This prestigious award is a clear indication that Sri Lanka’s national carrier has raised its levels of service to a world class standard, to complement the comforts on board our sophisticated fleet of aircraft."

The FTE Asia Awards recognize Asia’s most customer-centric airlines and airports, with winners being chosen by a panel of experts from the airline industry. Full service airlines were judged on an extensive range of criteria in their products and service, including business class, economy and other classes, long-haul flights, short-haul flights, in-flight entertainment systems, cabin crew service, comfort, food and beverage, consistency of service, and overall passenger experience.

Chanaka Olagama, Head of Service Delivery, added: "This was not an easy award to win, since airlines were judged by a panel of experts, who comprehensively examined the entire passenger experience. Credit for this achievement must go to all our staff who are involved in delivering the promised service to our passengers."

SriLankan competed in a vast region of more than 15 countries extending from Bangladesh in the east to Belarus and Armenia in the west.

The awards ceremony was held during the Future Travel Experience Asia Expo 2015, Asia’s largest travel experience trade event, which was held at the Singapore Expo Convention & Exhibition Centre from 17-19 November, and was attended by more than 1,000 senior travel professionals from around the world.

SriLankan Airlines now serves 94 cities in 44 countries with direct flights from Colombo to most major cities in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Its all-Airbus fleet is equipped with the latest entertainment systems, luxurious seating, and on-board cuisine that is among the finest in the sky.

First flight of the last A330-300 due to deliver for SriLankan Airlines. 4R-ALR

Construction Number (MSN) - 1689
Aircraft Type - Airbus A330-343
Test registration - F-WWYF

This is 4R-ALR performing the test flight in TLS today. Please correct your post. Thanks. 4R-ALP is already operating in the SriLankan fleet.

Why name wasn't given to 4R-ALQ during the paint work? Is it 242tonne mtow ? Did you find out when it's going to be ferried to CMB?

Ohh I'm extremely sorry.. Messed up "P" & "R". Corrected the post.

Thanks Sandaru. ALQ and ALR will arrive in beginning of 2016 I beleive?

Here are the calculations of the number of dates elapsed from the first flight to delivery date of the A330-300 aircrafts SriLankan airlines received up to now.

Reg.	First Flight	Delivery	No. of Dates
4R-ALL	04. Sep 2014	29. Oct 2014	55 days
4R-ALM	03. Nov 2014	18. Dec 2014	45 days
4R-ALN	28. Jan 2015	25. Mar 2015	56 days
4R-ALO	21. Jul 2015	14. Aug 2015	24 days
4R-ALP	07. Oct 2015	10. Nov 2015	34 days

Average - 42.8 days

So yes I think the new birds will arrive to CMB within the first three weeks of January

Hi Digitalairliners/Skyliners, I have heard 4R-ALQ will be delivered on the 21-Dec-15 and 4R-ALR will be delivered on the 29-Dec-15.
Do you know when does Airbus is going to start the assembly of first A350 (msn 52) for UL? test rego is F-WZFA. Did you notice if Airbus has received the tail of Msn 52? Thanks.

Cool!! Thanks for sharing this photograph with us AF777

Israir applies to operate Israel-Sri Lanka flights

IDB Development Corp. (TASE: IDBD) unit Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd. has applied to the Israeli Ministry of Transport's Civil Aviation Authority to operate direct charter flights between Israel and Sri Lanka, sources inform "Globes.

"Globes" has also learned that Israir CEO Uri Sirkis, who returned this week from a visit to Sri Lanka, will meet with Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Israel on the subject. There are currently no direct flights between Israel and Sri Lanka.

Israir's VP marketing and sales Gil Stav has confirmed to "Globes" that, "We are indeed preparing to operate direct flights to Sri Lanka in the summer and during the holidays, in the first stage." He added, "This is a destination that fits in with the series of family products that Israir offers to Western Europe, the Seychelles, and Zanzibar in Africa."


Israir is yet to market packages for flights to Sri Lanka but Stav estimates that packages for a week in Sri Lanka will cost $1,500-2,000 per person.

Israir is also readying to market packages to the Seychelles and Zanzibar for the summer of 2016. These flights will be on the new Airbus 320s that the company has purchased and will be delivered at the beginning of June 2016. Prices have yet to be published.

Do you think Israel have sufficient passenger demand for Sri Lanka flights? The news says Israir could deploy A320 for the Colombo route. But I'm wondering where the aircraft will do a technical stop between Telaviv and Colombo. As far as i know Israel aircraft not allowed in Gulf Islamic states and the Maldives.

4R-ALQ conducted another test flight today.

I don' know much about tourism but they seem to be on the rise in fact its one of the fastest growing sources of tourists to SL


Although the highest number of tourist arrivals in September 2015 was recorded from India, China and Germany, the highest year-on-year growth rates were observed in arrivals from Israel (185.1 per cent), Kuwait (91.4 per cent) and UAE (73.3 per cent), among others. This reflects the existence of untapped potential in many countries which have not been traditional sources of tourist arrivals in the past.





But finding a place to stop would be a issue