British Airways exiting Colombo after March 2015
View(s):British Airways (BA) said on Wednesday it was pulling out of Colombo from next March as the sector was uneconomical.
“The Colombo route is not making a profitable contribution to our business and we are unable to sustain it,” said Christopher Fordyce, Regional Commercial Manager, British Airways, South Asia, in an announcement.
Industry sources said the decision didn’t come as a surprise because there are many flights to London with SriLankan Airlines flying nine times a week while Emirates and Qatar too have regular flights. “BA didn’t have enough load factors for three flights a week,” one official said.
BA’s route to Colombo was via Male where some 90 per cent of the passengers disembarked and embarked. The airline will fly to Colombo and Male until March 28, 2015. Thereafter services to Male will re-commence for winter 2015, but “British Airways will cease to operate flights onwards to Colombo”.
BA said that with SriLankan Airlines recently joining the oneworld alliance, customers in Sri Lanka will still be able to enjoy the benefits of BA’s extensive network of flights to Europe and North America, connecting on from the direct SriLankan Airlines flight to London Heathrow.
BA resumed flights to Colombo in April 2013 after suspending operations for 15 years due to the conflict in Sri Lanka.