Sri Lanka gets air services back
COLOMBO: Emirates is expected to resume flights to Sri Lanka on Friday after suspending them following an attempted Tamil Tiger air strike on the capital last weekend.
Emirates and SriLankan Airlines, which is 40% owned by the Dubai-based carrier, operate more than 20 flights a week between Dubai and Colombo.
Emirates also operates flights from Dubai to the Maldives, Singapore and Indonesia via Colombo.
Emirates said it had reviewed the security situation in Sri Lanka and was set to resume normal operations.
Cathay Pacific has yet to resume its flights to Sri Lanka while Singapore Airlines adjusted its schedules to operate daytime rather than night time flights.
From January to March this year, visitor numbers to Sri Lanka fell to 144,635 from a total of 159,536 in the same period in 2006. The biggest fall has been from South East Asia with comparative three-month numbers dropping from 90,298 in 2006 to 14,973 in 2007.
Speaking at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Laahiru Jayamanne, manager of Jetwing Travels in Colombo, said that Sri Lanka was “doing it tough”.
“What we can do is keep our agents up to date with current information about Sri Lanka. In the short-term it’s difficult to be positive but we must prepare ourselves to be ready to go when the good times return.
“For the time being we are using incentives such as special discounts and value-adds to attract visitors.”
Sisira Abeyratne, from Sri Lankan Tourism, said the tourist board was providing daily updates to its overseas representatives about the situation in Sri Lanka because it believed good communication was vital to restoring confidence in the destination.
Ian Jarrett
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