Air India expands Delhi – Colombo service from July 2019

Air India from July 2019 is expanding Delhi – Colombo flights, with the new 2nd daily service scheduled from 15JUL19. Operated by A320, the new flight will operate overnight hours. Reservation for AI283/284 service opened earlier this month.

AI281 DEL1230 – 1605CMB 321 x3
AI281 DEL1340 – 1720CMB 321 3
AI283 DEL2225 – 0200+1CMB 320 D

AI284 CMB0300 – 0610DEL 320 D
AI282 CMB0820 – 1150DEL 321 D

SriLanka state airline sells US$175mn bond at 7.00-pct

State-run SriLankan Airlines has sold a 175 million US dollar bond guaranteed by Sri Lanka's government for 7.00 percent, a media report said.

Bloomberg Newswires said the yield narrowed to 7.0 percent after initial price guidance around 7.5 percent.

SriLankan is rolling over a 175 million US dollar bond that is falling due this month, which was issued five years ago.

The bond was rated 'B' by Fitch and Standard and Poor's in line with Sri Lanka's sovereign 'B' rating.

The issue was managed by Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered. (Colombo/June21/2019)

https://economynext.com/SriLankan_Airlines_sells_US$175mn_bond_at_7.00_pct-3-14891-1.html

Two European airlines to start winter flights to Colombo

Signalling a much needed reversal of fortunes for the tourism industry, two international airlines have formally expressed interest in commencing flights to Sri Lanka in the upcoming winter season.

The Sunday Morning Business reliably learnt that Switzerland’s Edelweiss Air and Poland’s LOT Polish have formally communicated their intentions to operate flights in winter and are currently engaged in discussions with Sri Lankan authorities.

As reported exclusively by The Sunday Morning Business on 26 May, Sri Lanka lost a staggering 41 flights in the first month after the Easter attacks, with 11 different international airlines reducing their flight frequencies to the island, affecting air connectivity with seven countries.

Edelweiss already operates flights in summer to Sri Lanka and the extension to winter is a vote of confidence in the country amidst tough conditions. In fact, we learnt that Edelweiss has already sold nearly 200 seats on its first winter flight to Sri Lanka. The airline’s official website said that flights between Zurich and Colombo can currently be booked for travel between October 2019 and April 2020.

Edelweiss Air is a Swiss leisure airline owned by Swiss International Air Lines which in turn is owned by Lufthansa. It has a fleet size of 16 and operates flights to 65 destinations including European and intercontinental destinations from its base at Zurich Airport. Switzerland contributed 34,000 tourists in 2018, 24.6% year-on-year growth.

LOT polish, the flag carrier of Poland, had first communicated its intention to commence direct flights to Sri Lanka prior to Easter, and had reiterated its commitment to commencing winter flights following the attacks.

LOT polish President Rafa³ Milczarski in a statement at the time, noted that they decided to start a regular connection to Sri Lanka due to the very large tourist potential of this direction. Annually, more than 1.8 million people travel between Europe and Colombo.

According to the official website of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Poland, the Polish carrier will offer the service from 3 November 2019 to 28 March 2020 with nine-hour flights from Warsaw to Colombo on a Boeing 787-9 LOT Dreamliner. The initial plan is to operate two direct flights from Warsaw per week.

LOT polish is one of the world’s oldest airlines still in operation and has a fleet of 77, with flights to 101 destinations across Europe, Asia, and North America. Over 20,000 polish tourists visited Sri Lanka last year, a 6% year-on-year growth.

Meanwhile, India’s national carrier Air India will resume its additional flight on Delhi-Colombo route from July 15, the Indian Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sunday. The airline had stopped operating the additional flight after the Easter Sunday attack.

Good to hear ! Any chance KLM would return back to Colombo anytime soon ?

Gulf Air is going to increase more flights to Colombo from October 2019. Number of flights are to be increased from 5 to 10 weekly.

Flight Schedule

BAH-CMB - GF136 - 13:15 - 20:35 - TU.SU
BAH-CMB - GF138 - 20:30 - 03:50+1 - WE.TH.FR
BAH-CMB - GF144 - 23:50 - 09:25+1 - MO.TU.WE.SA.SU via MLE


CMB-BAH - GF139 - 04:50 - 07:50 - TH.FR.SA
CMB-BAH - GF145 - 16:55 - 22:05 - MO.TU.WE.TH.SU via MLE
CMB-BAH - GF137 - 21:35 - 00:05 - TU.SU

Nice to hear!!!

Is this equipped with a Transponder?

Not really sure because I didn't see the aircraft on FR24 the day it arrived. Ran towards the airport just for the sound of the RR Dart engines which wasn't a familiar sound at Ratmalana since the good old days the Expo F27 was operating. We'll have to see if it is equipped with one, once it starts pax flights. Will update if so.

any updates on
AI plans on Mumbai-Colombo and
SG plans on Mumbai-Colombo and Bangalore-Colombo?

SriLankan Airlines beefs up Delhi and Colombo route

The presence in New Delhi on July 3 of the top brass of SriLankan Airlines was significant in several ways, including to announce a new, third frequency flight between Delhi, India, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, making for operating 18 flights a week between the two capitals from July 4.

The CEO, Vipula Gunatilleka, flew into Delhi for the event, giving the clear message that India continues to be a major generating market for the island nation carrier. He spoke of efforts to seek investors for the airline, after a major Middle East carrier withdrew.

MICE, wedding, and spiritual segments were some thrust areas for the airline.

The new service on 4 days a week departs New Delhi at 2330 hours on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to arrive in Colombo at 0300 hours the following day, offering travelrs seamless onward connectivity to Melbourne, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Gan island.

The short connecting time and collaboration with domestic lines will help the load factors, which are already high.

Industry leaders noted that launch of the new service so soon after the tragic Easter killings was very important and showed the confidence of the Indian market. The role of STIC travels, led by Subhash Goyal, was also lauded by the island nation airline officials.

SriLanka state airline sells US$175mn bond at 7.00-pct

This is just a debt roll-over because there is no way to pay off the debt.

The formula to use is 70/interest rate. So in this case 70/7 = 10. So every 10 years they will be paying U$175 Million in interest on this loan with no repayment of the original loan amount. This is true for all the loans taken out by the GOSL and SriLankan Airlines. That's one reason why the losses aren't coming down - nor will they.



As expected the financial results are a fabrication - explains why a private audit firm is no longer used.

The "Restructuring" and "Break Even" plans are just more Sri Lanka "Big Talk BS" from a political appointee.

The first leases run for another 6 years - no Termination Clause.

Here's what will happen instead.

6 years of losses will be just over U$ 1 Billion + the U$ 800 Million still owed to airbus for the 4 A350. Even if the A350 order is changed they will still need to pay - no Termination Clause.

So call it U$ 2 Billion in losses. Unless this is finally closed down for the good of the country.

Dear members, i will be flying UL 128 from Chennai(MAA) to Colombo(CMB) next week. now as per any international flight the arrival time at the airport must be at least 3 hours prior to departure but then i have a slight problem. I will be arriving at Chennai by another domestic flight operated by different airline which is not UL but it arrives at the airport three hours prior but at a different terminal (terminal 1) and UL is departing from terminal 4. Now then i feel slightly concerned about the proceedings. On a positive note i will be travelling light so i will only be limited to a hand luggage.
My question is, does any one have any experiences dealing with such situations as this is the first time I've had to go through such hassle. will i be able to make the flight or else will a prior 48 hour online booking be any help to me since like I've said i am travelling light so i will not have any baggage to be boarded and by the time i arrive at the airport i will be having a seat booked on the flight and the boarding card on my hand so will i be able to skip the check-in ques.
Appreciating greatly for any help provided soon and also sorry if I had posted this on the wrong forum seeking answers for my own woes.

PM orders cut in handling fees at BIA to boost tourism

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe ordered reduction in handling charges for airlines at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to encourage airlines to continue operating to Sri Lanka and reduce cost. At a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister yesterday steps needed to be taken to assist the tourism sector after Easter Sunday attack. It was observed that even though the hotels have cut rates, the airlines have not.

As a supportive measures the Premier directed the reduction of handling charges. Secretary to the Treasury, Commissioner General of Immigration and Emigration, Airport Aviation Chairman and Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman were also present at the meeting.

Airlines welcome reduction in charges



The airline industry yesterday welcomed the reduction in charges, noting that the move will boost business climate and tourist arrivals. The Cabinet on Sunday gave approval for a slew of charges, including ground handling, aviation fuel and embarkation levy, to be reduced for six months, to assist the tourism industry to recover after the Easter Sunday attacks. At a special press conference yesterday, the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) and the Sri Lanka Association of Airline Representatives (SLAAR) assured their full support to Sri Lanka Tourism, by increasing capacity and resuming cancelled frequencies.

“Immediately after the 21 April attacks, 41 frequencies to Sri Lanka per week were cancelled by airlines, causing a traffic drop.

With this move, all the airlines will now fully support to increase the capacity and resume those cancelled frequencies. We will make sure that all the airlines will work closely with their Head Offices to increase the frequencies,” BAR Chairman Dimuthu Tennakoon told journalists.

Noting that reduction in fuel and ground handling costs accounts to a significant percentage of any airline operator, BAR expect that the airlines will also work closely with tour operators in those markets to increase tourist numbers into Sri Lanka with attractive airfares from all markets.

Sri Lanka is comparatively very expensive in the region and this move will reduce the overall cost of operation for the airlines.

China Eastern Airlines yesterday confirmed that the airline would resume operation to Colombo from 1 September. The airline cancelled their Sri Lankan summer schedule from 1 May until further notice, following the Easter Sunday terror attacks and after the Chinese Government issued an adverse travel advisory on Sri Lanka.

China Eastern stopped the four weekly flights operating from Colombo to Shanghai from 1 May.

“The first flight will be operational from 1 September, followed by the second flight in October. Thereafter we will increase the frequency to our normal four flights per week,” China Eastern Airlines General Sales Agent Dart Aviation Director and General Manger Eustace Silva said.

He also said with the introduction of new concessions for the airlines operating to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), there are possibilities to increase frequencies.

“We might go for a daily flight,” he added.

Emirates Area Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Chandana de Silva said they are also back on track to four flights a day from this month.

“Most of the airlines unfortunately had to cancel many flights, including Emirates. We had to ad-hoc cancel our flights for about a month or two as it was not viable. It is on a very positive note I say, we are back on track to four flights a day,” he added.

It was also pointed that Qatar Airways have also resumed all their flights to Colombo. However, some Indian carriers like Air India and Indigo are yet to resume normal operations to Sri Lanka.

SLAAR Chairman Gerard Victoria said the move will give some impetus for new airlines to look at coming to Sri Lanka.

Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines, as well as Jetstar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, were looking at commencing operations to Sri Lanka. “I am aware that some of our members had some airlines that were going to commence operations to Sri Lanka during this year. However, following the 21 April Easter Sunday terror attacks they delayed those plans. It is important to talk to them and encourage them to operate to Sri Lanka, at least from October onwards,” he stressed.

Noting that cost of operation will be more viable now for the airlines, he however said that the reduction in handling charges would not reflect much on the ticketing prices.

Following this move by the authorities, BAR Deputy Chairman Chandana De Silva said some of the Indian, Middle Eastern, and Far Eastern carriers now have the confidence to come back and retain. “This is a great step towards positivity. With the introduction of these concessions, all airlines will propagate that to our members, and positively look at this position for us to come back and retain. This will also influence us to get our lost passengers back again,” he added.

He also said for the month of July, onwards they have not seen any cancellations.

“We have seen a slight pickup for October, November and December in bookings and I am confident that this momentum would pick up,” de Silva said.

He also emphasised that this message has to be reached to every mega carrier such as Lufthansa and British Airways to encourage more airlines to look at Colombo as a viable destination to operate.

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Johanne Jayaratne said that with ground handling, fuel and embarkation levy reduced, overall airline operations costs would drop to about 20% to 25% at the BIA, making it on par with other Asian airports.

“This has been an ongoing problem for the past 12 years, and these three components have to come down to encourage tourism to grow. From the response I got over the past 24 hours, the airlines are very positive on the move, and we will definitely see an increase in the frequencies,” he added.

Jayaratne said each airline has a different agreement in terms of ground handling with SriLankan Airlines, and instead of doing a blanket discount, they have presented with the present tier based on the aircraft that’s coming in as well as the frequency.

“In terms of fuel, it was decided that we look at the prices in Chennai. We found that it would be the best price for us to follow. With regards to the embarkation levy, which was at $50 and was increased by $10 in Budget 2019, we have now decided to keep it at $50. All of this would relate to about 20% to 25% reduction in overall operational cost of an airline. When all of this is actually put into practice, we will be on par with the Asian region,” he pointed out.

SLTDA believes that the airlines will do the necessary to have this reduction also reflected in the ticketing, which would further help to attract more tourists into Sri Lanka.

“This (reduction in airport charges) comes at a very timely moment, because we just rolled out a new campaign in India in collaboration with Master Card and, we are already seeing an increase in those numbers,” he said.

Jayaratne said the recovery is happening in much faster than they anticipated. “We are very well on the path to reaching the numbers where we were in 2018. On Sunday alone, we recorded over 3,700 tourist arrivals when our median arrival number was about 7,000 last year. As of end of May we exceeded one million tourist arrivals. If we are to look at it from a very conservative standpoint at 60,000 arrivals for a month for the next few months, we will top 2 million tourist arrivals by end of the year,” he pointed out.

Following the 21 April Easter Sunday attacks, a total of 11 foreign airlines reduced their flight frequencies to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). By April 2018, 29 airlines were serving Sri Lanka offering 300 flights per week. However, following the Easter Sunday attacks, the connectivity was reduced to 239 flights per week, resulting in a total of 41 flights cancellations, which amounts to a loss of seat supply by 8,000 per week from six countries – China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Oman, and Thailand. Rossiya (Russian Airline) withdrew completely (two flights/week), resulting in a complete loss of direct air connectivity with Russia. However, most of the airlines which reduced frequencies are low-cost carriers.

Much bigger mess that requires immediate action imho:-