Hello

I'm not very sure however I heard they are looking for 320NEOs and 321s... probably not another 320.

They Should Have Accept the A350

niceeeee!!!!!!!

What happened to Mihin Lanka service to Lahore? UL are now doing the route as traingular via KHI and using widebody.

Today, UL183 flight to Karachi was diverted to Lahore for some unknown reason? But good to see UL flying Karachi with widebody (A332).

UL was planning to take delivery of 6 A32Oneos and 4 A321neos over next few years. There are no talks currently about replacing the current A332 fleet with other widebody aircraft. If UL failed to take delivery of A350s, UL fleet may end up with 7 x A333s and rest of the 14 aircraft will be A320/A321s. They are planning to maintain only 21 aircraft until the airline return to profit. I don't think UL returning to profit is possible when its in the hand of Gov cronies.

UL's current fleet
A320 = 6
A321 = 2
A332 = 6
A333 = 7

Thanks. I guess for the time being it'll be another expense they can cut.

SriLankan Cargo sets record for cargo handling at BIA Cargo Centre

SriLankan Cargo, the freight handling arm of SriLankan Airlines, set a new record for the amount of tonnage handled during a single month at the Cargo Centre of Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), with 21,743 metric tonnes in the month of March 2016.

The figure surpassed the previous highest amount of 20,040 tonnes, achieved a year ago in March 2015, the airline said in a media release.

Significantly, this has exceeded the design capacity of the SriLankan Cargo Centre, which is 20,833 tonnes per month.

Chamara Ranasinghe, Head of Cargo at SriLankan Airlines, said: “We are delighted to report that our forecast indicates 2016 will be another record setting year for SriLankan Cargo. Our Cargo Centre has already handled 56,780 tonnes during the first three months of this year, which is the highest total that we have seen during the January to March period during any year, surpassing the 52,169 tonnes in the comparable period last year.”

SriLankan’s Cargo Centre recently received an ‘Award of Appreciation’ from the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for its steadfast role in supporting the nation’s economic activities. The state-of-the-art 25,000 square metre centre has dedicated areas for imports, exports and transshipments, sophisticated facilities for cold storage, animal handling and dangerous goods, CCTV facilities to secure all goods, a high-security area for valuables and a 24-hour customer care centre. On-line tracking through SkyChain allows customers to track their shipments in real time right up to their destinations.

SriLankan Airlines submits its details and ideas on restructure

Sri Lanka’s national carrier, following Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe’s announcement that the government was looking to partner Sri Lankan Airlines with a foreign airline, in an effort to convert the airline into a profit making venture, has submitted its financial statistics, restructuring and in general their view on the restructure, Chairman Aji th Dias said.

“We submitted all details including the financial position and our ideas on the proposal restructure,” he told the Business Times.

The Ministry of Public Enterprise Development is gearing to issue Request for Proposal (RFP) to select a financial advisers in this regard, he said. Financial advise to restructure the national carrier is being coordinated by National Savings Bank, which acts as the lead manager. He said once the RFPs are short listed, based on their proposals, the airline will look for a suitable plan.

SriLankan which recorded a profit of Rs. 4.4 billion in 2008 took a disastrous nosedive thereafter having suffered a whopping loss of amounting to Rs. 140 billion as at March 31, 2016, according to the government.

They are cutting the liabilities in the Balance Sheet to show the better Net worth totals.

Here is another cut : Another Long-haul route to be cancelled from Winter 2016 : It's Paris.

According to below news, UL to focus on India. So what I guessed earlier is almost correct. UL's current fleet of Six of A330-200 are going to be replaced by Six of A320 NEOS. There are no talks about UL replacing the current A330-200 fleet with other widebody.

See below for the expected UL fleet after retirement of 6 x A332s (ALA, ALB, ALC, ALD, ALH, ALJ), 2 x A320s (ABK/L) and 2 x A321s (ABQ/R). Notsure yet about UL taking delivery of A350s.

04 = A320CEOS
06 = A320NEOS
04 = A321NEOS
07 = A333

If UL have only Seven x widebody (A333s) they have to plan the network as below :

1st frame

1.3.5 = CMB-LHR - DEP CMB : 12:00 - ARR CMB : 12:25 +1
2.4.6.7 = CMB-PEK = DEP CMB : 14:05 - ARR CMB : 07:05 +1

2nd frame

2.4.6 = CMB-LHR = DEP CMB : 12:00 - ARR CMB : 12:25 +1
1.3.5.7 = CMB-PVG = DEP CMB : 14:10 - ARR CMB : 06:05 +1

3rd frame

7 = CMB-LHR = DEP CMB : 13:00 - ARR CMB : 13:25 +1
1.3.4.5.6 = CMB-CAN = DEP CMB : 15:10 - ARR CMB : 05:15 +1
2 = CMB-FRA = DEP CMB : 13:05 - ARR CMB : 11:00 +
2.4.5.6.7 = CMB-MAA = DEP CMB : 07:35 - ARR CMB : 11:30 *

4th frame

1.2.4.6 = CMB-NRT = DEP CMB : 23:50 - ARR CMB : 19:00+1
3.5.7 = CMB-FRA = DEP CMB : 00:30 - ARR CMB : 21:50

5th frame

DAILY = CMB-KWI = DEP CMB : 18:00 - ARR CMB : 05:50+1
DAILY - CMB-BKK = DEP CMB : 07:20 - ARR CMB : 16:00 *

6th frame

DAILY = CMB-RUH = DEP CMB : 18:05 - ARR CMB : 06:05+1
DAILY = CMB-SIN = DEP CMB : 07:25 - ARR CMB : 16:25 *

7th frame

DAILY = CMB-JED = DEP CMB : 17:35 - ARR CMB : 06:45+1
DAILY = CMB-MLE = DEP CMB : 08:10 - ARR CMB : 12:10 *

Flight marked as * = During A333 Maintanance, these flights will be served by A321

Rest of the flights have to be operated by A320/A321s if UL failed to replace the current A330-200s with widebody. HKG route have to be served Daily onboard A321neos via BKK or KMG.

Talk about short term thinking. That's a massive gap they are leaving between the A321NEO and the A333. It might look good on a balance sheet but it removes a lot of flexibility from the fleet.

Do you know when UL is returning 4R-ALD, ALH & ALJ back to the lessor ? Will they replace them with wide body aircrafts? Without enough widebody aircrafts and with these routes dropping would they survive in the long run?

I'm sure they can survive. For example check the flight history of 4R-ALQ. Landed at CMB around 05:09AM(21/05/16) as UL226 and spent about 6 hours on the ground before taking off to FRA as UL557. I think they can do a MLE flight or MAA flight in between. Since CDG also out of the way in this winter they have more than enough aircrafts to operate without any disruptions.

UL has a lower frame utilization rate compared to even similar mediocre airlines. However, I still think that they need something to fill in the gap between the A333 and the A321. It is simply too large a hole.

Is there a strong business case to continue FRA, now that CDG is going to be discontinued?

I always thought LHR was the only European destination they could operate profitably.