Mehar Singh/NEW DELHI
SriLankan Airlines has revealed plans to expand operations and to develop its Colombo base as an international hub.
The airline, previously called Air Lanka, underwent a rebranding last year following Dubai-based Emirates' acquisition of a 40% stake.
According to chief executive Peter Hill, SriLankan is keen to operate two daily flights to the south Indian city of Trichy, and also to two other south Indian cities, Kochi and Bangalore. He says there is "plenty of scope" to increase flights to India as the recently signed bilateral air services agreement between the two countries, provided for SriLankan to offer 2,000 seats per week, while the airline is currently offering 675.
SriLankan, which received the sixth of nine Airbus A330-200s on order at the end of June, is also looking at increasing its frequencies to London from 7 to 9 flights a week from September.
The two additional flights will be routed through Emirates' Dubai hub. Hill is hopeful of increasing London frequencies to 11 a week when the air services bilateral talks are held between the two countries in October.
The airline already co-operates with its part owner, flying a series of codeshares on Emirates flights to European destinations. Dubai-Stockholm services are operated by SriLankan as an extension of flights from Colombo under a codeshare with Emirates.
This month, two new destinations will be added - a non-stop flight to Dhaka and to Milan, via Rome. In May, the two carriers launched their "Skywards" joint frequent-flyer programme.
The airline is also concentrating on cargo operations to increase profitability.
Last year, SriLankan, which is the sole provider of cargo-handling facilities in the country, handled a record 102,750t of exports and imports - an increase of more than 10 per cent on the previous year.
Source: Flight International
