February 2, 2006: Colombo has suddenly become nearer to Mumbai with Sri Lankan Airlines’ all set to expand operations with the launch of double-daily flights to Mumbai this month. SriLankan Airlines is the largest foreign carrier operating to India. The airline will launch double-daily flights to Mumbai.

The new services would take Sri Lankan flights to India to 94 per week. It operates 15 services to Chennai, 13 to Thiruvananthapuram, 11 to Kochi, 10 to Trichy, 8 to Kozhikode, daily to New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, and 2 to Goa.

The airline aims at having a hundred flights a week to India. Further, travellers can look forward to taking full advantage of its connections in Colombo to Europe, Middle East, Far East and the Maldives with the double-daily service from Mumbai increasing the level of convenience, said an official.

Talking of the Colombo-Mumbai service, Sri Lankan Air officials said that flying time from Mumbai to Colombo would be a mere 2 hours and 25 minutes. The new flights are conveniently scheduled to depart Mumbai daily at 2:55 p.m. and arrive in Colombo at 5:20 p.m. The return flights are scheduled to depart Colombo at 11:45 a.m. and arrive in Mumbai at 2:00 p.m., they added.

The increase in services to Mumbai comes following a meeting between India and Sri Lanka that in fact reinforced the excellent cooperation that exists between the two nations, said reports. The additional flights to Mumbai is part of Sri Lankan’s strategic plan to strengthen its market presence in India which remains the foremost tourism generating market for Sri Lanka.

Moreover, the additional flights will also support the airline’s campaign to promote tourism to India from its worldwide network through the Colombo hub, said reports

The airline’s leisure arm SriLankan Holidays’ has also unveiled exciting holiday and business packages from Mumbai to Sri Lanka. This is to coincide with the launch of double-daily services to Mumbai.

According to reports, leisure packages start from Rs 9,999 and holidaymakers can choose from a variety of exotic vacations in the western coastal resort of Negombo, Colombo, Kandy, the south-western beach resort of Bentota etc. Packages are valid throughout the month of February 2007, the reports added.