Melbourne is bad idea, UL would hard pressed to compete against MH, SQ and TG; UL and Air Ceylon has tried this before and failed. Only way MEL could be viable if UL is flying more frequencies to LHR; then could compete with EK on Kangaroo Route. Aussie - Sri Lankans from Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth are not going to fly to Melbourne and fly to Colombo.

Melbourne Airport

The Melbourne—Sydney air route is the fourth most-travelled passenger air route in the world and the second busiest in the Asia Pacific region.

The airport features direct flights to 33 destinations in all states and territories of Australia in addition to numerous destinations in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

Melbourne is the most common destination for the airports of five of Australia's seven capital cities.

• FlyDubai is increasing Dubai-Colombo flights from 5 weekly to Daily , effective 26 March 2012.

FlyDubai Dubai-Colombo Flight Timetable

21:50 - 03:50 - FZ0555 - B737 - DXB-CMB - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
04:50 - 07:40 - FZ0556 - B737 - CMB-DXB - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

• Mihin Lanka is increasing Colombo-Dhaka flights from 4 weekly to 5 weekly , effective 25 March 2012.

Mihin Lanka Colombo-Dhaka Flight Timetable

07:30 - 11:25 - MJ0501 - A32S - CMB-DAC - 2 4 7
07:30 - 11:25 - MJ0501 - A32S - CMB-DAC - 5 (effec 25 Mar 2012)
11:05 - 14:50 - MJ0501 - A32S - CMB-DAC - 1

12:25 - 15:05 - MJ0502 - A32S - DAC-CMB - 2 4 7
12:25 - 15:05 - MJ0502 - A32S - DAC-CMB - 5 (effec 25 Mar 2012)
15:50 - 18:35 - MJ0502 - A32S - DAC-CMB - 1

SriLankan Airlines adds 7th A330

SriLankan Airlines will be taking delivery of 7th A330-243 to its fleet this month. Aircraft is on lease from ALC (Aircraft Leasing Co) and is an ex - Thomas Cook Airlines Aircraft. Aircraft is now parked in Manchester Ringway Airport (MAN) prior delivery to SriLankan and it will be registered as 4R-ALJ.

Airbus A330-243 , MSN 456
Current Registration : G-OJMC
Engine : 2 Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 772B-60 turbofan engine
Year of Manufacture : 2002

a picture of 4R-ALJ - http://nikfrenchphotos.blogspot.com/2012/03/man-9th-march-2012-sri-lankan-a330-4r.html .

SriLankan on strategic plan for profitability

Cph

The ttl population is only about 4.3Million. <<<<<<<

This is Great !! We really need more new machines..

Passenger numbers between Sri Lanka & Australia is indeed increasing and often more travelers from Australia arrive per month to Sri Lanka then many counntries that have direct flights ( eg Italy , Switzerland & Russia ) Qantas have just withdrawn flights from BOM and are not intersted in CMB , maybe LCC Jetstar in the future , this means a golden opportunity for SriLankan Airlines ! more to follw

With respect Speedbird - you are talking through a hole in the Winnipeg ice cap !! Destination is a logical destination for SriLankan to fly to , yes they have tried before , but as we all know the situation has now changed dramatically in Sri Lanka , not only does MEL have one of the largest Sri Lankan disapora in the world ( + growing ) stats show that Australia is now the # 1 choice for Sri Lankan emigres . Not only does MEL have a large Sri Lankan population but it alos has over 200,000 Indian immigrants as well , with no direct flights to the the SASC - SriLankan has a great opportunity to capture market to Sri Lanka & INDIA - forget the Kangaroo route , no $$ to be made , the 'Seredip route' from MEL to CMB with immediate connections to MLE , MAA , BOM , DEL , COK will be succesful - yes yields are challenging but sustainable nonetheless - as for flying from SYD , BNE & ADL to MEL flying times & connections are all good at MEL airport in same terminal & no flight curfews - passengers will do this - they do already - also do not forget they will connect from AKL , WLG & CHC New Zealand over MEL - so bring on Australia !!! Not in cricket however - Go the mighty Lions !!

Mihin Lanka bags top award

Mihin Lanka won the Monitor Award 2011 for the Low Cost Airline of the Year beatings Air Arabia and Fly Dubai.

The awards ceremony was held in Dhaka Bangladesh.

Sri Lankan airlines ready to help promote Maldives

Association for Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has said that the Sri Lankan airline is ready to help promote the Maldivian tourism industry.

MATATO said that the airline had agreed to assist Maldives in promoting the tourism industry and that investors from Sri Lanka had also offered support.

China Eastern Suspends Sri Lanka/Maldives Service till late-March 2012

China Eastern has temporary suspended operation to Sri Lanka and Maldives, however the airline is planning to resume the 3 weekly service starting 02APR12.

I am not sure if you are aware of the word respect...but again here is quick summary on airline business. Well UL is close to bankruptcy, unless it receive a cash injection of $500 million from the government; but again not sure if this funds would be available if the Sri Lankan forex reserves deprecate very rapidly; any way this is not an issue for some one who is living in OZ. True there are more travel between OZ and rest of the world that is because of artificially high AUD (commodity prices are high) but again Euro was high couple of years back. Now lets look at Ex-Sri lankans in OZ well most of them are prices conscious and previously most of them worked in public transport sector; it does not matter if it UL or MH if the prices is lower they will choose the lower. And again most prefer to stop in SIN coz there is lower GST for goods purchased than in OZ. There are more Greeks in the rest of world than in Greece; specially cities like Melbourne is considered second largest Greek population outside Athens. But again Olympic airline went bankrupt, Greek government subsides could not continued forever. If UL is considering number of ex-Sri Lnakan as the primary criteria to operate flights then there is big issues; for example EY/EK operate more than 100+ flights to OZ this manly competing in kangaroo route and to transfer Europeans to OZ. If they are catering to Oz-Emiratis then there would be not a single flight to Australia. Today UL is crumbling under debt, what it requires is consolidation not expansion. Today people do not fly airlines for pride that was yesteryear. Today passenger is customer and they demand service and at a lower cost. There are cities in North America which has more Ex-Sri Lankan or Indian population than the total Ex- Sri lankan or Indian population of Australia and New Zealand combined; but that does not mean it is viable option to UL to operate here with current debt load. By the way here is something about Winnipeg which is the home base for Boeing Canada and Thomson MB is the cold weather testing place for RR and PW engines and conversation/thread ends... Au Revoir

I agree that UL should be looking at consolidation, rather than expansion at a time of great internal financial crisis.

Opening up new routes is a huge drain until they become profitable (if ever) and even if they do, that happens after several years, time that UL does not have.

They should get rid of the six aging A343s and slash unprofitable routes. They should also increase the frequency to existing profitable destinations. Flying to a destination 3-4 times a week does not help establish the brand, there should be daily flights.

There is no point in having bragging rights that UL now flies to so many destinations, when they are bleeding money and are on life support at the tax payer expense. This insanity has to stop!

SriLankan Airlines A330/A340 Components Handled By AFI KLM E&M

AFI KLM E&M inked a contract with SriLankan Airlines covering A340 and A330 component support.

The contract involves closed-loop repairs for six A330’s and six A340’s.