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Sri Lanka's national carrier SriLankan Airlines on Wednesday said it will be adding the three south Indian cities of Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Coimbatore to its global network with effect from July 8, 2017, as part of its continuing strategic focus on India.

The airline will offer four flights every week to each of these destinations. While it will fly from Hyderabad to Colombo on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (departing at 9.50 am and arriving in Colombo at 11.45 am), it will connect Visakhapatnam to Colombo with flights on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays (departing at 10.10 am and arriving in Colombo at 12.15 pm). The new routes will be serviced by Airbus 320321aircraft.

Interestingly, this will be SriLankan's second attempt at catering to the Hyderabad market, from where it pulled out a few years ago. The new connections are expected to bridge the demand from both Indians and Sri Lankans for seamless connections across the region , the airline said. 

“India has been a vital part of our strategic expansion, where we will continue to explore the potential to consolidate our presence. At a time the industry is consistently developing travel movements around tier-II cities as opposed to traditional hubs, it is timely to offer these connectivity options. The new routes also reinforce our commitment



to strengthen the deep commercial and bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka,“ SriLankan Airlines chief commercial officer Siva Rama chandran said in a statement.

SriLankan, which already caters to Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, Cochin, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya, will also introduce four additional frequencies to its daily services from Delhi and Mumbai, taking SriLankan's services to over 120 flights-a-week to 14 Indian cities.

SriLankan joins other international carriers like Emirates, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Tiger Air, SilkAir, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Etihad Airways, Thai Airways, Oman Air, Malaysian Airlines, Gulf Air, Flydubai and Air Arabia that fly from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which is operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL).

Commenting on the development, a GHIAL spokesperson said: “RGIA has emerged as the gateway of choice for passengers to and from South-Central India with a 22% jump in total passenger traffic to 15.24 million per annum in 2016-17 and 23% growth in air traffic over 2015-16. Currently , 15 foreign and three Indian carriers connect the city with 16 international destinations, while 10 domestic carriers connect Hyderabad with 33 Indian cities.“


2 Comments For This Post.
Mohammed Aman Warsi Says:
It is good news specially for Hyderabadis. I suggest if you extend and connect your flight route to Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to get enough passenger to Hyderabad.

Comment posted on May 18 2017
EHTESHAM UL HASSAN MOHAMMAD Says:
Mashallah Good News for Hyderabad passengers.

Comment posted on May 18 2017
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