SriLankan Airlines to scrap Rome sector while continuing other European flights
View(s):SriLankan Airlines said this week it will discontinue flights to Rome from May onwards but continue its other European sectors including increasing some frequencies. While Paris operations will continue with four weekly frequencies, a fifth Frankfurt frequency will be added from July 2016, which will continue during summer 2016, the national airline said in a media release. The decision put to rest fears from the tourism industry that the airline was planning to discontinue flights across Europe except for the UK owing to mounting losses. The industry had urged the airline to continue its European segments as new business was expected with Europeans looking for new destinations owing to the ISIS crisis in the Middle East.
The statement said that London will remain SriLankan’s main gateway to Europe. The national carrier is the only airline to operate non-stop flights between London and Colombo. In a comprehensive statement, SriLankan said that 2016 promises to be an interesting one for world aviation. Fuel prices are near historic lows and global demand remains strong. SriLankan Airlines, similar to international carriers the world over, has had to respond to this highly competitive market environment by re-evaluating its current operations and re-deploying capacity to more sustainable routes and destinations, the statement said.
The decision to discontinue flights to Rome was in order to increase capacity on more commercially viable routes. “Nevertheless, with its strong network of codeshare partners, SriLankan will continue to provide onward connectivity to many European and North American destinations.”
Making a significant capacity increase to the Middle East, SriLankan will start operating daily flights to Riyadh and six flights a week to Jeddah. The national carrier currently serves seven key hubs in the Middle East, i.e., Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait with a total of 42 flights a week.
The airline said that India has remained the number one tourism generating market for Sri Lanka in 2013, 2014 and 2015 while China has climbed up from its third slot to number two position in 2015. “The Far East will remain an important market for SriLankan where the airline will continue to explore its potential for expansion,” it said.