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

todays ul314 to kul went on time, return ul315 is delayed by 6 hrs]
equipment is 4r-abr a321
as per flightradar24 is diverted to kul after take off

any idea why??

UL's first A350 has received the test registration. It looks like assembly for this aircraft will be starting in next month. There are chances UL will take delivery of 3 x A350-941s on lease from ILFC and change the 4 x A350-941 direct orders with narrow body aircraft.

48 PR-XTE A350-941 LATAM Airlines Undergoing fuselage join JJ #5 Station 50 F-WZGU
49 B-18401 A350-941 China Airlines Parts Arriving CI #1 Station 59 07/2016 F-WZGV
50 HS- A350-941 Thai Airways To be assembled in Toulouse TG #2 F-WZGW
51 OH-LWG A350-941 Finnair To be assembled in Toulouse AY #7 F-WZGX
52 4R- A350-941 SriLankan Airlines To be assembled in Toulouse UL #1 F-WZFA

I suspect thats what will happen. Airbus might be willing to swap the direct order over if UL orders more than 4 narrowbodies or A330NEOs when/if such a swap occurs.

Not really a bad idea if UL can swing this. A359 will be ideal for the LHR rotation and the occasional NRT flight and three frames should suffice even if the LHR frequency is marginally increased.

It will also give them 20 or so more seats over the A333, so overall it is a good match.

Today, 4R-ALQ (F-WWKV) and 4R-ALR (F-WWYF) are performing the acceptance flight in TLS. Does anybody have two of these A333s in one pic ? It's appear to be delivery of these A333 by end of this month. Hi umedhah, is it true you have visited TLS to spot these UL A333s?

UL should be looking at a minimum of 10 A321/A321Neos as replacement for the 4 A359s if they are going to expand in India and South East Asia

UL will be receiving only three A350-941s on lease from Aercap (ilfc) in last quarter of 2016. Now Msn 52, Msn 55 and Msn 60 have been allocated for UL. These birds will be configured to carry 338 pax. We can expect UL will be flying these aircraft to London and Tokyo for the rotation purpose they will fly Doha.

First parts for first A350 for UL (Msn 52) will be arriving in TLS in early Jan 2016. But the delivery of the Msn 52 is not going to happen in Aug 2016 because Airbus has back log of orders to complete

Hi XFW-Spotter, do you have any update about SriLankan A350 Msn 52?

Interesting information about the A350s banuthev.

I have no pictures of the 2 A330s together.

Penalty - In Focus

Skymark Airlines vs Airbus

Airbus terminated the order for six A380s -- worth $2.5 billion at list prices -- in July. The aircraft maker said its decision to cancel the orders stemmed from “the airline’s expressed intentions for the aircraft.”

Skymark has said the 26.5 billion yen ($244 million) it paid to Airbus for the double-decker planes, more than the airline’s market value, may not be returned. The carrier could face demands for as much as 70 billion yen in penalties.

Hi Banu, I am not that lucky. I just added a photo of UL 333 in TLS FB took as I was there.

Singapore Airlines to increase Colombo flights from daily to 10 weekly, effec 30-Mar-2016. Good to see SQ aircraft is going to be operating at CMB during the day time hours. Anychance SQ increasing these day-time flights (SQ466/467) to daily frequency?

SIN-CMB-SQ466-A333-08:50-10:05-WE,FR,SA (NEW FLIGHT EFFEC 30-MAR-16)
SIN-CMB-SQ468-A333-22:40-23:55-DAILY
CMB-SIN-SQ467-A333-11:30-18:00-WE.FR.SA (NEW FLIGHT EFFEC 30-MAR-16)
CMB-SIN-SQ469-A333-01:10-07:40-DAILY

Different scenario as the A380s were already assembled (or almost assembled) when the order was cancelled. Furthermore Skymark cancelled the order. Whereas UL will probably replace the A350 order with smaller Airbus aircraft. UL may have to pay a penalty if it does this but it probably won't be as severe as the penalties imposed on Skymark. Look at the recent TAP order as an example.

Lets wait & see.........

Sri Lanka aims to expand air links with China

Sri Lanka is targeting more Chinese airlines to arrive in the island nation as the government looks to further expand its tourism industry next year, Senior Advisor to the Tourism Minister, Felix Srimal Rodrigo said.

"Sri Lanka is an island which means tourists can only reach here by air transport. Establishing strong air links will boost our tourism industry," Rodrigo told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Presently the government is negotiating with the Chinese government to expand air links between the two countries, said Rodrigo.

Tourism had become the number one foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka as the Chinese currency, Renminbi, had become the most used foreign currency, said Rodrigo.

According to latest data, China has become the leading market for tourists to Sri Lanka, said Rodrigo, adding that several advertizing campaigns are to be launched next year in China to attract more tourists.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to visit China next year to conduct a massive travel promotion on behalf of his government which was sworn to power in January.

The Sri Lankan government is presently implementing a more open policy to attract Chinese travelers and has implemented an open visa policy where all transit passengers and short term travelers can obtain an ETA visa with only $30.