Hi Haleef, Do you know when 4R-ALQ and 4R-ALR are going to be ferried from Toulouse to Colombo? I think 4R-ALQ is replacing 4R-ALG and 4R-ALR is replacing 4R-ADE. UL seems to be postponed the plan of increasing the Guangzhou daily flights from 3-Dec to 16-Jan 2016.

Hi Banuthev, I think both of these aircrafts are supposed to come to Sri Lanka hopefully by this year. Not yet sure about when it'll come, sometimes it could come in Jan as well, depends. Yes, ALQ will be replacing ALG and ALR will be replacing ADE.

Suggest members to read an interesting article in FT today on UL downsizing.

SriLankan Airlines mulls joint venture with foreign airline

ECONOMYNEXT – SriLankan Airlines aims to enter into a joint venture with a foreign airline, possibly Middle Eastern, on a revenue sharing basis in order to survive in the highly competitive market, its chief executive said.

The three top Middle Eastern airlines – Emirates, Qatar and Etihad, had expanded fast and aggressively and were offering SriLankan Airlines stiff competition, said Suren Ratwatte, chief executive of the national carrier and the budget carrier Mihin Lanka.

“We want to talk about a joint venture on a revenue sharing basis.” he told the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sri Lanka.

A joint venture with revenue shared was necessary in order to give the partner airline the right incentive, he said.

Such an arrangement would also help lower unit costs, he added.

Ratwatte said the three Middle Eastern airlines were potential partners under consideration.

The fierce competition among the top three Middle Easter airlines might help SriLankan Airlines play them against each other and try to get the best deal.

“All three of them were suffering owing to reduced profits and looked ready to “do a deal,” Ratwatte said.

Emirates has added so much capacity that it’s now the biggest airline in terms of available seat kilometers,” he said. “Qatar is now in 10th place and Etihad 13th.” (Colombo/December 01 2015)

Oman Air seeks partnership with Srilankan Airlines

Oman Air is keen on a partnership with SriLankan Airlines with which it now has a code share arrangement, Chief Officer Sales of Oman Air Mahfood Ali Saleem Al Harthy said.

Oman Air was today working with Srilankan Airlines, with the two carriers complementing each other and offering customers a wider choice, he said at a news conference.

The two carriers were having talks on a partnership, he said without giving details.

“Oman Air’s growth depends on building partnerships with airlines,” Al Harthy told Economynext.com.

“We believe our growth depends on building alliances,” Al Harthy said. “We’d like to work with SriLankan Airlines.”

There's nothing in any of these posts that offends me.

After 30+ years in the Airline business I can handle just about anything!

Hats off Shanaka.

EK Group Profits: USD 1.5 Billion - Up 34% from Last year!


EY Profits: USD 73 Million - Up 52%


QR Profits: USD 103 Million


Seriously, what ever the new UL CEO smoking, it must be real good

God save UL with this type of idiots running the show!!!!

BTW, in his rebuttal to US3 on the subsidy raw, EK's STC specifically singled out the venture with UL as a disaster. It is highly unlikely EK will touch UL with the 10 yard stick as long as STC is around.

Why Oman Air...UL is a member of OneWorld...should be Qatar

Apart from the leading Middle East cargo giants, not many carriers have been able to post the sort of freight growth rates SriLankan Airlines has managed in recent years. Mr. Chamara Ranasinghe, Head of Cargo, told FlyingTypers that despite the competitive pressures felt both from rival airlines and alternative shipment modes, UL managed to increase its volumes at an average of 5 percent year on year over the last five years.

From its “Hub In The Ocean,” Columbo, and elsewhere, SriLankan Cargo uplifted 101,878 tons in FY2014-15, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. UL’s cargo operations are now a major part of the airline’s financial health, contributing approximately 12 percent of the airline’s total network revenue annually and providing a net contribution of USD$50m to the SriLankan Airlines Group in FY2014-15.

First Qantas, Now Malaysian!

Perhaps UL should entice EK for a deal like this:

I think the UL should re-look at Russia. Some recent events in the Middle east are sending lots of Russian tourists towards Asia.
Turkey receives the largest number of Russian tourists with egypt at second but now Russian tourists aren't that willing to spend their time in those two. According to a Russian website Sri Lanka is one of the main candidates they see as a replacement

Former widebody aircraft (B744,B763, B772) of Transaero are being transferred to Rossiya and Orenair. With Orenair planning to commence flights to Goa (http://www.business-standard.com/art...1100618_1.html), flights to destinations like MLE, CMB and BOM could be on the cards

SriLankan Airlines to split business, offer VRS

ECONOMYNEXT – SriLankan Airlines aims to split its operating model, placing its engineering and ground handling units into a separate business from the airline, and reduce staff, its chief executive said.

The national carrier now has 21 aircraft and 6,900 staff and intends not to hire more people for the time being, said Suren Ratwatte, chief executive of SriLankan Airlines and the budget carrier Mihin Lanka.

"We’re working on a VRS (voluntary retirement scheme)," he told a recent forum by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sri Lanka.

"We’re looking at splitting the business units and hope to put engineering and ground handling into a separate business and allocate staff to those and as we grew them hopefully we can do so without hiring more and maintaining the same staff level."

The airline’s unit costs had dropped along with fuel prices but ticket prices had also fallen.

"We getting more efficiency everyday but retaining them in the form of revenue and profit is more difficult," Ratwatte said.

"My challenge is lowering costs any further is very difficult." (Colombo/December 04 2015)