Sri Lankan Airlines flights to Kochi start; to fly thrice a week

Kochi: Sri Lankan Airlines has announced the launch of its new flights to Kochi, with its first flight landing at the Cochin International Airport yesterday. The Sri Lankan Airlines'' delegation on this first flight was led by G T Jeyaseelan, head of commercial.

Sri Lankan Airlines will fly three times a week between Kochi and Colombo. The flights are scheduled on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, the flights have common timings of departure from Colombo at 0810 hours and arrival at Kochi at 0900 hours. The return flights will leave Kochi at 1015 hours and arrive in Colombo at 1205 hours. On Friday, the flight will leave Colombo at 0940 hours and arrive in Kochi at 1030 hours. The return flight will leave Kochi at 1150 hours and arrive in Colombo at 1340 hours.

The airline will fly an Airbus A 320 on this route, with a capacity of 12 business class and 132 economy seats. This is part of major expansion plans of Sri Lankan Airlines for the Indian subcontinent, in its effort to promote Sri Lanka as a complete tourist destination for leisure and business. The airline has introduced innovative packages to promote the new flight to Kochi.

Says Jeyaseelan: "We are delighted to announce the launch of our new flight between Kochi and Colombo. Kochi is the second city in Kerala to be connected to Colombo thus, reinforcing our commitment of increased connectivity to the Indian subcontinent. The proximity between Kochi and Colombo makes it an ideal quick getaway destination. This also provides an ideal opportunity to the airline to promote the dual destination concept to leisure travellers from Europe."

With this introduction, Sri Lankan Airlines adds to its tally of 41 flights per week to India, thus consolidating its presence in the country. The airline covers key cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli and Bodh Gaya besides the new flight to Kochi.

India is an important country for Sri Lankan Airlines as it is the fastest-growing market with over 100-per cent growth in traffic last year. Similarly, Sri Lankans are also increasingly travelling to India and constitute the third largest group of arrivals into India.

Sri Lankan Airlines flies to 31 destinations in 20 countries across Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, the Indian subcontinent and the Maldives. The airline has received several prestigious awards recently, including Skytrax Best Airlines in Central Asia for three consecutive years (2000, 2001 and 2002); TTG Asia Best Airlines in South Asia 2002; and Skytrax World''s Friendliest Cabin Crew 2002, among others.

The airline has a modern fleet of aircraft comprising A 320, A 340 and A 330. Sri Lankan Airlines is acknowledged as Asia''s rising star.