Comments
Surprising withdrawals by a few popular airlines operating to Sri Lanka, and the beginning of services by a few others are sending a mixed message on the potential of the traffic in the sector.
AirAsia move
AirAsia announced a withdrawal on one sector, and the Gulf Air said it was terminating services.
On the other hand, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Korean Air are planning to begin services soon.
Malaysian has announced plans to augment capacity in the Colombo-Kaula Lumpur sector.
Tourist arrivals
Many airlines operators were upbeat after tourist traffic to Sri Lanka picked up after the government forces decimated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.
Tourist arrivals have picked up since, and, in mid-December 2012, Sri Lanka said that the millionth passenger in a calendar year had arrived.
According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, as many as 1.76 lakh Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2012, up from 1.71 lakh the previous year. Hence, it baffled many when AirAsia announced a suspension of its Kuala Lumpur – Colombo flight, effective February 2013, “due to commercial reasons.”
In fact, AirAsia was following in the footsteps of Gulf Air, which said that it was “terminating operations” as part of a cost-cutting drive.
Last year, AirAsia’s Thai services were reduced because of lower than projected demand.
“Traffic to and from Sri Lanka is growing,” said a travel agent, who expressed surprise over the AirAsia move. “So is business tourism,” he added.
The glut, he added, will be in the Colombo – Male sector, where Turkish Airlines will add to the existing capacity offered by Emirates, Sri Lankan, and China Eastern.
Turkish Airlines will begin Istanbul-Colombo flights via Male, from February 1. The India routes continue to script a unique success story for Sri Lanka’s flagship carrier.
monopoly routes
Sri Lankan has a monopoly on many India routes, including Colombo-New Delhi, Colombo-Kochi, Colombo-Thiruvananthapuram, Colombo-Tiruchi, and Colombo-Bangalore.
After Jet Airways stopped its New Delhi-Colombo service last year, the only direct flight is operated by Sri Lankan.
In the busiest Indian sector, Chennai-Colombo, Sri Lankan operates four flights every day, while Air India Express, SpiceJet and Jet Airways operate one each.
In addition, Air India operates six times a week.
There have been no takers for the capacity or routes vacated by Kingfisher.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.