SriLankan Airlines is preparing to expand its short- and long-haul fleet to cater for traffic growth as it reaps the benefits of its new Indian connections. The airline is also poised to expand its novel amphibian air taxi service.
"We've benefited from the liberal aviation pact between Sri Lanka and India, which enables us to serve seven metropolitan cities and 15 others with unlimited traffic rights," SriLankan chief executive Peter Hill told Flight International. The airline's network has expanded by 25% over the last year, and Hill says that it currently operates 70 flights a week to India and "will expand to 100 services to 14 or 15 destinations a week within 18 months".
SriLankan's expanding Indian connections are also allowing it to boost long-haul services, as its Colombo hub is a strong alternative to the major Indian airports for passengers connecting to secondary cities in the country.
Direct Australian services - suspended in mid-2001 after the Tamil Tiger separatist attack on Colombo International airport, which destroyed four of its aircraft - are planned to be reintroduced late next year. Hill expects to pick up some London-Australia business by co-ordinating connection flights, but expects much of the Australian business to be generated by its new Indian network.
The airline's all-Airbus jet fleet comprises five A320s, four A330-200s and five A340-300s, and Hill says that he expects to add "several" A320s and two A340s next year. Hill says he is also "actively studying" the possible lease of an A310-300 Freighter.
Meanwhile, the SriLankan Air Taxi amphibian service, using an eight-seat Cessna 208 Caravan floatplane, has proved successful, and the fleet is being bolstered by the addition of two refurbished, 15-seat de Havilland Canada Turbo Otter amphibians. "This is destined to grow to a 10-aircraft operation within five years," says Hill.
MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON
Source: Flight International
