The Hindu Business Line : SriLankan to operate larger aircraft to Delhi, Mumbai

SRILANKAN, the national airline of Sri Lanka, hopes to be able to offer flights from Colombo to Delhi and Mumbai with wide-body aircraft later this year, thereby offering more seats on the two sectors.

Airline officials contacted in Colombo told Business Line said that SriLankan hoped to be able to operate the Airbus A-330 or Airbus A-340 aircraft on the flights to both the Indian cities by November this year.

"At present, only two of the seven flights that we operate to Delhi are with a wide-body aircraft. We will wait and see the development before replacing the remaining flights — currently being operated with an Airbus A-320 — with either an Airbus A-330 or A-340 aircraft. Eventually, over a period of time, we will end up with daily flights with an Airbus A-330," the official said.

Similarly, the airline is keen to introduce the Airbus A-330 aircraft on the Mumbai route from November this year. Officials indicated that the airline is awaiting confirmation on availability of aircraft before launching the larger aircraft on the route.

While the Airbus A-320 operated by the airline can seat 144 passengers, the Airbus A-330 aircraft can seat 281 passengers while the A-340 can take up to 312 passengers. Apart from offering more seats to the Indian market, the move could also make the flight more enjoyable for the passenger. Both the Airbus A-330 and Airbus A-340 aircraft offer personal television and in-seat phone to passengers in economy and business class, while these facilities are not available on the Airbus A-320 operated by the airline.

Airline officials indicated that a study being undertaken for launching regular flights to Ahmedabad was likely to be completed by September and, depending on the outcome, SriLankan is likely to take a decision on whether to start flights.

"If the study is positive and there is adequate time to prepare ourselves then we will positively look at starting service by November this year. In case that is not possible we would like to start services to Ahmedabad as soon as it is possible, based on available resources," officials said.