Emirates to resume Lanka flights

13 July, 2007:

With the lifting of curfew in Sri Lanka, Dubai-based airline behemoth Emirates has said it will resume operations to Sri Lanka from Sri Lanka’s international airport.

According to an aviation industry report, Emirates will start normal day and night flight operations beginning July 15, 2007. The Bandaranaike International Airport in the strife-torn island nation had stopped late night services in May 2007 following night-time bombings by low-flying aircraft of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

However, proclaiming better times, the curfew was lifted last week following the installation of an advanced radar system. According to an Emirates official, the airline will return to a schedule of 17 services a week between Colombo and Dubai, and four services a week from Colombo to Singapore and Jakarta.

Emirates, meanwhile, does not see any other airline joining it in this regard. Other carriers are yet to resume their services to the country, a report added.

Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines is reportedly reviewing its operations and expects to revert to its original schedule, which includes night time operations, by September 15, 2007. The company, stating that it was keen on reverting to its normal operating pattern, said that SriLankan Airlines being the home-based carrier operating 181 flights per week from its hub at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), there were several practical as well as operational issues to be addressed in the first instance which would take awhile and hence the anticipated date of September 15, 2007.

The airline has said that its daytime operating schedule had been extended until September 2007 in order to ensure a degree of certainty to its passengers during this peak season for holiday traffic, particularly Sri Lankans visiting family and friends. A sudden change especially during this period could cause severe disruptions to travel plans resulting in loss of onward connections on other airlines, which are also experiencing heavy loads at this time.