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Oman Air has axed Colombo launch. Government denied approval.

Here is the reply from Oman Air about starting the delayed-flights to Colombo.



SOURCE: AIRSRILANKA.ORG | OMAN AIR

I really thought that that the "Y" will be either WY or EY
Btw anynews about "WY" starting flights to CMB? As per Oman-air website they meant to start the flights from yesterday (17 Oct). If delay causes after next month from the Lanka Airport authority, WY will look for serving only Malé (if good pax demand between Oman and The Maldives).  

@Banuthev That is the 'Y' I hinted sometime ago.

[Etihad to restart Colombo flights]

Etihad to restart Colombo flights

UAE national airline Etihad Airways said it will resume flights to Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo from January next year following the recent end to the civil conflict in the country.

The airline will operate four flights per week from Abu Dhabi to the largest Lankan city using an Airbus A320 aircraft, Etihad said in a statement.

Flight EY266 will depart Abu Dhabi on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 9.55pm and arrive at Colombo’s Bandaranaike international airport at 3.45am the following day.

Return flight EY267 will depart Colombo on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 4.45am, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 8am the same morning.

The resumption of flights follows the recent end to the civil conflict in Sri Lanka and the boost that this is likely to provide to the tourism sector and to the wider economy as a whole, said a top official.

“Colombo will be our first new route launch of 2010, and bring to 58 the number of destinations available across our expanding global network,” said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive.

'Sri Lanka is an established market with a strong local traffic base. We expect the resumption of Etihad flights to be welcomed by the considerable Sri Lankan expatriate community living in the UAE and those living across the Middle East region who will be able to connect quickly and easily back home via Abu Dhabi,' he noted.

'This year July and August already witnessed a 30 per cent increase in visitors to the island compared to the same period last year, and the Sri Lankan government too is now targeting 2.5 million visitors a year by 2016,' he added.

The timing of the flights has been carefully scheduled to facilitate onward connections from a number of key destinations on the airline’s network, including Moscow and North America, Hogan pointed out.

Colombo is located on the west coast of the island and close to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka.

With a population of around 650,000, the city is the island’s commercial centre, home to a majority of Sri Lanka's corporate offices, restaurants and entertainment venues. Famous landmarks in Colombo include Galle Face Green, the Viharamahadevi Park and the National Museum.-TradeArabia News Service

SOURCE: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=TTN&artid=168949

When EK handed over, UL owned 8 or more aircraft. Now just one, which will likely be sold next month.
 They need not hand over management to any company. They should have retained Peter Hill. He was specifically hired for the UL contract and not an EK employee, although he was one of the key forces in bringing EK to this level. He wanted to expand UL, resume MEL,SYD,ZRH, launch MAN and acquire some A321s. But the board did not allow him.

If GOSL is serious about having a successful national career, they MUST either invite an experienced operator like EK to MANAGE the airline. There is no shame in getting a qualified foreigner managing a local enterprise.

Nissan, once Japan's pride in automobiles was saved from the jaws of bankruptcy by a French Lebanese CEO (Carlos Ghosn). Up until then a foreigner running a legendary Japanese conglamorate was never heard of. Not only Nissan is a very successful business today, Carlos went on to become the CEO of Renault simultaneously. (Not to mention he gave the world the awesome Nissan GT-R).

Bringing in a high powered foreigner or outsourcing the management of UL will ensure prudent decision making, free of political interferance as well as credibitiy to an operation that is hampered by stupidity of the management.

Also there is a romour that Government is planning to change the name of "Sri Lankan Airlines" back to AirLanka.

If true, this would be a real disaster. It would be like starting up a financial services company called "Madoff Finance".

AirLanka is a name and memory that any traveller would like to completely wipe out from their memory. Sri Lankan brand still has some prestige. Not sure for how long though.

Someone has hacked the blog. I'm trying to fix.
UPDATE: Fixed.

Thank you

SriLankan is rumoured to be closed down and replaced with a new company. Don't know. What they should have done was to end Emirates contract and retain Peter Hill. Peter wasn't an Emirates employee. He was hired specially for the contract. And now Oman Air is growing under his leadership.
 SriLankan need not to add any A320s, they do not have enough flights to operate them in. Their current fleet is already highly underutilized.
 SriLankan recently sold three A330s that they owned. They currently own only one A320, which is leased to Mihin, and it will be likely sold before the year end when it returns from Mihin. There is noone to lease an A320 to Mihin in Malaysia. Must be a 737 of MAS.

Also there is a romour that Government is planning to change the name of "Sri Lankan Airlines" back to AirLanka.

Someone has hacked the blog. I'm trying to fix.
UPDATE: Fixed.