Rohit Vaid New Delhi, Nov 25, : Increased passenger flow from India and lower Covid restrictions will result in more flights between India, Sri Lanka, according to major airline SriLankan Airlines.
The airline plans to serve approximately 5 million Indian tourists to Sri Lanka in the next three years.
It also plans to connect smaller, but more growth-oriented destinations in India to Sri Lanka.
The airline could exponentially increase weekly frequencies to approximately 250-300 in the next three years to reach this number.
Ashok Pathirage, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, spoke to IANS and stated that the airline had operated more than 120 flights per week in the pre-Covid era to nine cities in India.
“At the moment, we operate 54 flights per week, ferrying approximately 1,500 passengers each day from India to Sri Lanka.
“We expect this number will gradually increase, but it may take one year for us to reach pre-Covid level flight frequencies to India.”
Pathirage says that India’s accelerated vaccination drive and lower Covid numbers will allow more tourists to visit the island.
“India is our largest market, and we are committed to re-establish operations at full scale in India.
“We continued to operate passenger and cargo flights to and fro India, even during periods of lockdown, and despite many international travel restrictions.”
He also said that the airline was ready to compete with Tata Sons-backed Air India.
He also stated that the airline had launched new flights to destinations such as Nairobi, Seoul, Moscow and Frankfurt in 2020 and 2021.
“We plan on adding more international destinations, including in India.”
“Revenge travel trends are one reason for the increase in passenger numbers.” This demand is sustainable, and it will only continue to grow.”
(Rohit Vaid may be reached at rohit.v@ians.in
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