SriLankan is looking at acquiring 4-5 year old Airbus A330 aircraft and resuming flights to Frankfurt, Pathirage said.

It is also looking to start flights to Sydney in Australia.

Chief Executive Vipula Gunatilleke said leasing second hand aircraft was much cheaper than getting brand new aircraft.

Good move, hope UL acquires an A330 which would suit their business model unlike ALS

I'd prefer them to operate MAA-JAF-RML-JAF-CMB in the future

Plans to start International operations from Ratmalana & Mattala

The Minister of Industrial Export, Investment Promotion, Tourism and Aviation Services Prasanna Ranatunga says that a new proposal is being prepared for the commencement of international flights at Mattala and Ratmalana airports.

The new proposal has been submitted to the Cabinet for approval, the minister said. The airport authorities have had several discussions in the past regarding the commencement of international flights to Mattala and Ratmalana airports.

Facilitation of international business jets, development of domestic civilian and commercial operations, establishment of aviation training center in the region and regional airport operations are some of the areas identified for the development of Ratmalana airport.

Accordingly, the government is considering implementing proposals to provide concessionary fuel prices at Mattala and Ratmalana airports as well as granting relief to the airlines for landing and stopping the two airports.

The proposal was formulated with the objective of attracting international airlines to the Mattala and Ratmalana airports.

Jetstar Asia to launch Singapore ? Colombo flights from July

Jetstar Asia will become the only low-cost carrier (LCC) to fly direct from Singapore to Colombo, Sri Lanka when it launches the new service on July 1, operating four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Colombo becomes Jetstar Asia?s 25th destination from Singapore and the first airline in the Qantas Group to fly to the popular hotspot.

The return service will operate four times a week with flights timed to allow more travelers from Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia to access this must-see destination by transiting through Changi Airport in Singapore.

Jetstar Asia CEO, Bara Pasupathi, said Sri Lanka frequently topped the most desired holiday destination lists and Colombo was the perfect gateway to this amazing country.

?As we face an ever-changing aviation and tourism landscape, Jetstar Asia is committed to continuing to open up exciting new destinations for our customers,? Pasupathi said.

?Colombo and its surrounding area have so much to offer. With our low fares, we?re excited to be able to open up this incredible destination to ensure more people experience all that it has to offer. This market has so much potential. We are proud to be working with CAG in Singapore and Hayleys PLC (General Sales Agent for Jetstar Asia) in Sri Lanka, to expand the Jetstar network and continue to grow LCC traffic out of Singapore.?

Chairman and Chief Executive of the Hayleys Group, Mohan Pandithage, stated that it was an honour to be partnering with Jetstar Asia.

?Hayleys has a long-standing relationship with the Qantas Group, and are delighted to expand it further through Jetstar Asia. The tourism industry will derive significant support from this operation, and Sri Lankan travelers will be provided with a unique travel experience as well.?

India's GoAir expands its reach in South Asia

India's GoAir expands its reach in South Asia - introduces new direct flights from Colombo to Delhi and Bengaluru
● For Colombo-Delhi-Colombo flights, the introductory return fares start from LKR 35,512
● For Colombo-Bengaluru-Colombo flights, the introductory return fares start from LKR 24,900
● Colombo is GoAir's 1st international destination launch in 2020
In continuation of its expansion in South Asia, GoAir? Asia?s most trusted, punctual and fastest growing airline ? has announced its new direct flights from Colombo to Delhi and Colombo to Bengaluru. GoAir's maiden flights to the capital city of Sri Lanka will commence from 20th March 2020. The airline has introduced these two new routes with attractive return fares starting at LKR 35,512 for Colombo-Delhi-Colombo flights and LKR 24,900 for Colombo-Bengaluru-Colombo flights.
Delhi and Bengaluru offer direct connectivity to the popular pilgrimage - ?The Buddhist Circuit? that includes places such as Bodhgaya, Vaishali, Rajgir in Bihar and Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh. GoAir has direct flights to Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Patna (Bihar) from Delhi and Bengaluru.
Speaking on the new flight announcement, Mr. Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, said: ?Our entry into Sri Lanka is in line with the growth strategy that we adopted since 2018 for international markets. GoAir has placed a firm order of 144 A320neo aircraft and we will be receiving one aircraft every month on average for the next 7-8 years. GoAir has been rated amongst the top 10 most punctual airlines in Asia by Cirium and we have earned four-out-of-four star ratings from 1.4 million passengers in the US-based APEX survey. The passengers rated GoAir as the best overall in-flight experience, cabin service, seat comfort, cleanliness, and food & beverages. Customers from Colombo will now experience the same superlative service and comfort when they fly GoAir. I would like to thank the Government of Sri Lanka, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, the officials of Bandaranaike International Airport, and last but not least our GSA partner Aitken Spence for the strong support that we have received in Sri Lanka.
GoAir is the aviation foray of India?s 283-year-old Wadia Group that comprises leading brands including 156-year-old Bombay Burmah, 140-year-old Bombay Dyeing, 101-year-old Britannia Ltd., 65-year-old National Peroxide Limited, the decade old Bombay Realty and many others. GoAir currently operates 300+ daily flights and the airline has carried 80 million passengers since its inception in 2005.
GoAir flies to 36 destinations that include 27 domestic destinations namely Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu, Kochi, Kolkata, Kannur, Leh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Ranchi, Srinagar and Varanasi, as well as 9 international destinations namely Phuket, Male, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bangkok, Kuwait, Dammam and Colombo.

Can anyone update me on the current and future operations of the UL fleet.

I believe 4R-ALD - A332 already left the fleet and about to be scrapped. So how about the rest of the 3 A332's that UL recieved way back in 2000.

How about ALH, ALJ and ALS. will they be exitting as well because despite later acquisition these too are almost as old as the other three airframes and maybe with similar flying hours.

How about the older A320Ceo's, will they be phased out as well.

And also how about the Maintenance hanger activities these days as I heard some of the older birds are being prepared for retirement flights, So could someone please provide me the update which will be greatly Appreciated.

UL eyes Airbus payback

Chairman Pathirage tells CoPE airline looking to get maximum possible compensation from Airbus

Looking lease two widebody aircraft from Airbus to operate long haul flights

CoPE Chairman decides to send Auditor General?s reports on SLA re-fleeting and lease cancellation to Attorney General

2013 Airbus deal finalised without consulting AG but on advice of private counsel

Sri Lanka Airlines (SLA) is in consultation with the Attorney General?s (AG) Department to initiate legal action to recover the maximum possible amount in compensation from Airbus company which is at the centre of a bribery scandal but Sri Lankan is also looking to procure two widebody aircraft from the company to operate long haul flights, Chairman Ashok Pathirage told the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise (CoPE) yesterday.

?I cannot divulge all the information on the ongoing process as the information is very sensitive and if I give you all the information out here today it will be detrimental to us in terms of what we are trying to claim from Airbus. We believe there is an opportunity to recover at least part of the money from the company,? Pathirage told the Committee.

The Chairman and the entire Board of Directors of the airline were summoned to be present at the CoPE hearing on the SLA-Airbus bribery case, the unravelling of which during a UK court hearing into Airbus company?s practice of bribing airlines in several countries led to the arrest of SLA former CEO Kapil Chandrasena and his wife.

Pathirage said that SLA will put its best effort through legal means to collect this money while also pursuing action initiated with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) to explore the possibility of claiming some of the money awarded to the UK by Airbus as compensation as the bribe offered to SLA official too were included as charges in that case.

Pathirage also told the Committee that the airline would be recommencing two long haul routes, namely to Amsterdam and Sydney for which the company needs to procure two widebody aircraft.

?We are not buying as we don?t have the money, but we will be procuring leasing them the same manner the earlier A350 were procured. Given the situation today we can procure the aircraft for much lower, around $ 300,000 to 400,000 per month but we have inherited seven aircraft for which we have to pay $ 1 million each month which adds up to $ 7 million but we are under contractual obligation to pay this till 2022 even though the same aircraft are now available in market at $ 300,000 to 400,000.? He said market prices at the time the aircraft were procured might have been higher.

Pathirage said when the SLA re-fleeting as done in 2013, quotations were also called from Boeing company but as SLA is a small airline company operating with a fleet of only 26 aircrafts, it is cost saving to but procured from Airbus as it can save on training spare parts etc.

?For a small airline like ours, it is prudent to work with Airbus. The aircraft we are leasing are three to five years as we are not in a position to buy brand-new aircraft,? Pathirage added saying that the A350 aircraft procured earlier were not suitable for SLA. ?Those are long haul aircraft and what the technical people say is that they are not very fuel efficient.? He added that Airbus is very flexible and are willing to give different aircrafts more suited to the local airline.

Meanwhile CoPE Chairman MP Sunil Handunnetti said that with the consent of all the members of CoPE, he has decided to forward the Auditor General's reports on the lease agreement and termination of Airbus leases as well as all minutes of the Committee meetings on SriLankan to the Attorney General's Department directly to pursue legal action.

?We will send these directly to the AG. If anything, illegal has happened those responsible must be punished,? Handunnetti said urging Pathirage to fully cooperate with the AGs investigation. The SLA Chairman said they will fully support any Government institution investigating irregularities at the airlines.

It was revealed to the Committee that SriLankan Airlines Airbus Deal of $ 2.8 billion has been carried out without any consultation of the AG but only on the advice of private counsel retained by the airline. It was also revealed that the public had been made to believe that SLA had managed to reduce the penalty for the cancellation of an agreement to purchase four A350-900s from AerCap Company, the aircraft leasing company.

AerCap agreed to reduce the penalty to $ 98 million under four conditions. The conditions were paying every instalment on the agreed date, extending the lease period of A330-200 MSN 627 aircraft by 10 years, implementing a lease agreement for A330-200 MSN 1008 aircraft and transferring to SriLankan Airlines two narrow-bodied aircrafts belonging to AerCap company that had been leased to Mihin Lanka. Ultimately these costs have come to over $ 150 million.

The other Committee members yesterday were Minister Susil Premajayantha and MPs Ajith. P. Perera, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Harsha de Silva, and Ashok Abeysinghe.

source . ft.lk http://www.ft.lk/top-story/UL-eyes-A...back/26-696100
By Chandani Kirinde

Sri Lankan Airlines Airbuse leases from Aercap questioned on unseen penalties

ECONOMYNEXT ? Though an earlier Board of state-run SriLankan Airlines had claimed they paid 115.7 million US dollars to Aercap, a leasing firm, to cancel four Airbus aircraft, the carrier had been committed to make additional payments via aircraft it was forced to acquire, it has been revealed.

One A330 aircraft SriLankan was forced to acquire was completely unusable, a parliamentary committee was told.

SriLankan Airlines had paid 17.5 million dollars to Aercap to cancel one A350-900 aircraft and 98 million US dollars for three others totaling 115.7 million dollars, the parliament?s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) was told.

Three aircraft had been leased from International Lease Finance Corporation which had later been acquired by Aercap.

Bribes

According to a UK investigation, 1.16 million dollars of bribes had been promised for the delivery of each A350 aircraft purchased from Airbus by SriLankan Airlines and 300,000 it if was leased to an agency set up by an ex-employee.

Legislator Harsha de Silva said people were asking questions about the cancellation as well.

Ministers of the then government had been told that it would cost 154 million dollars to cancel the aircraft, but it had apparently been negotiated down to 98 million dollars, members of the COPE said.

COPE members questioned whether the originally mentioned cancellation cost of 154 million dollars was actually negotiated down and if so how.

Officials said SriLankan had to acquire an unusable A330-200 aircraft as part of the cancellation in addition to the 115.7 million dollars paid in cash upfront and take over leases of two aircraft used by now-defunct Mihin Air.

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SriLankan airline ex-chief Chandrasena faces arrest, Tony Fernandes steps aside after Airbus revelations

Aercap leases unusable aircraft to SriLankan Airlines

Current Chief Executive Vipula Gunatilleke had been hired after the controversial cancellations carried out during the tenure of Chief Executive Suren Ratwatte and Chairman Ajith Dias. Current Chairman Ashok Pathirage had been in office for only two months.

Additional Payments

Gunatilleka revealed said that Airbus A330-200 acquired as part of the settlement was unusable as the seat configuration could not be used by SriLankan.

It is not clear how many millions of dollars had been had been paid up to now as leases for the aircraft, which was grounded. It had also been leased to another airline for a time, which had defaulted.

Gunatilleke said following negotiations with the lessor, the seat configuration has been changed and the aircraft is due to enter service in July.

It is not clear why the previous management bought the aircraft with an unusable seat configuration and who is accountable for the debacle.

COPE member Wijedasa Rajapaksa said he recalled then Aviation Minister Kabir Hashim complaining to parliament that decision were made without his knowledge by the Board.

SriLankan officials said all transactions went through a committee on economic management coming under then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Accountability

The deals were made without clear approval of either the Attorney General of the Cabinet, which appeared to have been informed subsequently, the COPE was told.

Auditor General W Wickramaratne said under Sri Lanka?s company?s law under which SriLankan Airlines operates, the Board members were liable.

It was the ?usual practice? not to consult the Attorney General when deals were made, SriLankan Airlines said.

COPE member Ajith Perera said various ?practices? had been devised at government linked companies and he had knowledge of what was going on in the power sector, where there was no accountability.

State enterprises are a easy target for corruption, as they come under looser financial regulations than government departments.

But state agencies coming under the Companies Act, operated even more loosely, though there were no majority private shareholders to question how the money is being used.

In the case of regular state enterprises, deals several hundred million rupees require cabinet approval, but in the case of SriLankan a 2.8 billion dollar deal had been entered into without any legal clearance of the attorney general, but the taxpayer was responsible for losses, COPE members said.

COPE chief Sunil Handunnetti said a representative of the Auditor General should be present at committee hearings so that they will know what is revealed and take action. (Colombo/Feb24/2020)

Source : economy next

Vistara to commence Delhi-Colombo from 20MAR20

UK137 DEL0330 - 0700CMB 32A x3

UK138 CMB1515 - 1845DEL 32A x3

UK's existing Colombo-Mumbai will be retimed to depart at 8am instead of the 2pm currently.

Nightmare to the Sri Lankan airlines😥😥

Its good to add Amsterdam or Frankfurt as we can have more connections to US and Canada..
Currently we dont have any options other than LHR.. but UL flight lands at night and almost no connections to North America

Agree with it. Travellers from US and Canada have to take 2 transits either via India or Middle East without UL direct connectivity to Europe other than LHR. Qatar Airways is an alternative option from USA and not from Canada ( QR flies only to Montreal but not every day). Emirates and Etihad flies to Toronto but usually tickets are expensive.

Tokyo is another transit option for North American passengers to and from Sri Lanka. SriLankan Airlines is increasing Tokyo flights from 4 to 5 weekly from July 2020. Airbus A330-300.

Yes 4R-ALD already left the UL fleet.

Haleef- do you have updates when 4R-ALJ leaving UL fleet? Or is it already left? Any updates on getting on getting another A330 to the fleet?