SWISS connecting Sri Lanka with Europe again

August, 16, 2021


Two weekly flights between Colombo and Zurich / From Zurich excellent flight connections to many other European destinations / United Ventures new GSA for Lufthansa Group Airlines as of September

Good news for all Sri Lankans longing to visit Europe again: Fully vaccinated third country nationals from outside the European Union can now visit Switzerland again without quarantine requirements. This means passengers arriving from Sri Lanka will be able to enter Switzerland normally again, given they can provide either a certificate of full CoVid-19 vaccination, full recovery from a Covid-19 infection, or by presenting a negative AntiGen Rapid or PCR test result prior to boarding their flight from Colombo.

Equal good news: As of 4 November, Swiss International Airlines will offer two weekly flights operated by leading Swiss leisure airline Edelweiss between Colombo and Zurich for business and private travel. Customers departing to Zurich will have access to Lufthansa Group’s vast European network with excellent flight connections to almost every other European country. In order to board the aircraft in Colombo, passengers need to fulfill the entry requirements of their ultimate destination.

“We are delighted to have Swiss restrictions fall for flights from Sri Lanka,” says George Ettiyil, responsible for all commercial activities in South Asia for the Lufthansa Group airlines. “We are ready to serve our Sri Lankan customers who want to travel to Switzerland or another European country to have a memorable holiday, visit family and friends or see business partners they haven’t been able to meet in person for more than a year.” George Ettiyil also expects strong pent-up demand for flights from Zurich to Colombo: “Sri Lanka is one of our most important leisure destinations in all of Asia.”

Ettiyil adds: “Our flights will offer customers state-of-the-art safety and hygiene standards that are among the highest in the industry, top-notch comfort and service in all classes as well as numerous flight connections from Zurich to top destinations in Europe.” Furthermore, Lufthansa Group Airlines will partner with “United Ventures” as its new General Sales Agency (GSA) for the Sri Lankan market as soon as 1 September. “With United Ventures we have nothing less than a top-notch service provider supporting us in what is a crucial market for our South Asian airline business,” says Ettiyil.



Timetable SWISS (as of 4 November):

LX 8065 (operated by Edelweiss)

Departure Colombo: 10:05am / 12:50pm

Arrival Zurich: 04:40pm / 07:15pm

Departure in Colombo: Thursday / Saturday



LX8064 (operated by Edelweiss)

Departure Zurich: 05:50pm / 08:55pm

Arrival Colombo: 08:20am / 11:20am

Departure in Zurich: Friday / Sunday

Which aircraft is going to be operated on this route?

Great news that a second western European carrier is starting service to Colombo. Timings for the Swiss flights are interesting. The flight that departs Zurich on Sunday arrives in Colombo on Monday morning. However the next departure for Zurich is on Thursday (if I am reading the schedule correctly). Will that aircraft be on ground in Colombo for 4 days? Isn't it costly to leave an aircraft idle for that long - I guess its to give the crew adequate rest? The flight that departs ZRH on Friday has a more reasonably timed stop in CMB, arriving at 8:20 Saturday morning and departing around noon.

Emirates yesterday announced the resumption of its Colombo-Male service starting 1 September.

The daily service between the two cities will be an extension of its Dubai-Male flight EK652 to Colombo, with the return flight EK653 operating from Colombo to Dubai via Male. Emirates flight EK652 will depart Dubai at 09:45 daily, arrive in Male at 15:00 and depart the Maldivian capital at 16:35 for Colombo, arriving in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital at 18:30. The return flight EK653 will depart Colombo at 20:35, arrive in Male at 21:35 and depart for Dubai at 23:00 to arrive at Emirates’ home base at 02:00 the following day, local time. The airline will operate all flights utilising its wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft in three-class configuration.

By mid-October, Emirates will also increase its services between Male and Dubai to four daily flights.

Emirates has been gradually rebuilding its global network, in a safe and sustainable manner and has resumed passenger services to over 120 passenger destinations, allowing travellers to conveniently connect to the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific via Dubai.

A longstanding contributor to the growth of tourism and the export industries of the two countries, Emirates has operated flights to Sri Lanka and the Maldives for 35 and 34 years respectively, and has also played a key role in the transport of vaccines and other essentials needed to combat the spread of the pandemic in the region.

UL is adding a second weekly flight to Nairobi in October. Good to see the national carrier expanding its footprint in Africa.

Guys..
Need help on cargo flights schedule to Colombo, looking forward to getting down a machine via air freight from Italy and supplier is saying there are NO freight flights (cargo) are scheduled for CMB for the few more months to come... can somebody help here with planned schedule from Qatar, Turkish Air, CathePacific etc... (what I'm looking for airfreight from Italy to Colombo)

is it an oversized item ?

SriLankan Airlines to resume direct flights to Paris thrice a week

SriLankan Airlines, the flag carrier of the island, is set to operate direct flights to Paris, France, thrice a week every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from November 1, an official said.

Airbus A330-300 aircraft is a 269 economy and 28 business class seater with a total flying time of 11 hours and 25 minutes.

Flight schedules are as follows:

Flight UL563 is scheduled to depart Colombo at 00:35 hrs and arrive in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 07:30 hrs.

The return flight UL564 is scheduled to depart Paris on the same day at 14:30 hrs and arrive in Colombo at 05:20 hrs the next day.

Good News! do you think there is a demand for operating both 3 weekly SriLankan and 3 weekly Air France on the Colombo-Paris route?

Great news! Flight timings are ideal for onward connections to/from North America. Hopefully UL will partner with SkyTeam, especially Delta, to codeshare to destinations in the US.

yes.. it is

ok ... i guess you managed to sort it out ?

SriLankan Airlines Airbus A330-300 4R-ALL visit to Auckland (AKL/NZAA) New Zealand




https://twitter.com/flysrilankan/sta...61466555691008

@flysrilankan operated its first flight to #Auckland, New Zealand from #Sydney, Australia today marking another milestone in the Airline's history of #cargo operations

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Source: https://twitter.com/flysrilankan