Financial Times

Floatplane operations to start soon
Sri Lankan Airlines is likely to start commercial floatplane operations shortly, after several weeks of delay, and might acquire a bigger aircraft to take passengers to Nuwara Eliya, the Director General of Civil Aviation H.M.C. Nimalsiri said.
"It might take about another week to start commercial operations. We are now in the final stages of certification," he said.

A Sri Lankan Airlines spokesperson declined immediate comment saying further details are likely to be revealed once the airline formally launches the operation. The national carrier has leased a Cessna Caravan aircraft from Turkey, with another one on order, and had originally planned to start operations with amphibious aircraft in November but this was delayed because of a "few technical problems", Nimalsiri said. These related to sorting out certification issues and also the inability of the Cessna Caravan to operate from Nuwara Eliya with a full passenger load.

During test flights conducted by the airline at potential landing sites on inland water bodies, the single-engine Cessna found it difficult to clear obstacles such as power lines and surrounding hills in Nuwara Eliya without restricting its payload.
Nimalsiri said the airline was considering acquiring a twin-engine aircraft such as the Twin-Otter.

The Civil Aviation Authority has held talks with the environmental authorities on the possible impact of floatplane operations and was awaiting approval, he said. The airline plans to operate amphibious aircraft from the Victoria reservoir, the Kelani River, downstream of Victoria bridge, the Koggala lagoon where Royal Air Force Catalina flying boats operated from during World War 2, and Bentota. It decided to use floatplanes largely to speed up the transfer of tourists from the Bandaranaike International Airport to resorts given the poor condition of the roads and lengthy delays in road travel.

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