SriLankan eyes routes to Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Johannesburg, Treasury silent on new Mihin aircraft
View(s):SriLankan Airlines is gearing to go to Africa; initially to Nairobi in Kenya, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Johannesburg in South Africa, in a bid to leverage on Chinese transit passengers via Colombo, officials said.
“We’re looking to go to these places in Africa primarily to support the Chinese transit passengers there,” Kapila Chandrasena, CEO SriLankan told the Business Times on the sidelines of the launch of its new wide body A330-300 aircraft last week. He said currently the national carrier is doing the analysis and modelling on routes to Africa. “We’ll be taking a decision on this by next winter,” he said.
He said the national carrier will expand to the broader Asian region and that December will see them fly to Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, China while Melbourne is on the cards. According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), the highest growth in the air transport will be centered mainly on the Asia Pacific region, fuelled by India and China. “This is why we aim our future expansions in the Asian region,” Mr. Chandrasena said, reiterating that this move will fetch critical mass into the airline.
Meanwhile other officials said budget airline Mihin Lanka is negotiating with three organisations to lease two Boeing aircraft and has written to the Treasury requesting for funds. “We haven’t still got any feedback,” a Mihin source said. He said that the airline is expecting some news in this regard as the lease agreement of the current fleet of three ends in early next year.