Financial Times

Air Taxi daily scheduled flights to Bentota, Koggala
SriLankan Air Taxi, the domestic arm of SriLankan Airlines, has announced it will begin daily scheduled return flights from Colombo to Bentota and Koggala from November 1, providing a further boost to the country’s tourism industry.

“This service is intended to coincide with the winter tourist season, and is expected to greatly assist hoteliers and tour operators in the southwestern and southern resort areas in marketing their products,” said Herman Pereira, Manager Air Taxi at SriLankan. “Our amphibious aircraft will carry passengers from Colombo to Bentota in less than half an hour, and on to Koggala in another 40 minutes.”

In comparison, a road trip to Bentota can take up to three hours, and up to four hours to Koggala. Flights depart the Bandaranaike International Airport at 6:30 a.m., arrive at the Bentota River at 7:05 a.m. and get to Koggala Air Force Base at 7:45 a.m.

The return flights depart Koggala at 8:30 a.m., and Bentota at 9:10 a.m. and touch down at BIA at 9:45 a.m. “The schedule has been designed to provide the greatest convenience and shortest transit time for passengers from Europe who arrive on SriLankan Airlines flights from London, Paris and Frankfurt, to go straight on to their hotels in Bentota, Beruwala, Kosgoda, Koggala, and Galle, without having to battle through traffic in and around Colombo,” said Herman Pereira. “The same convenience applies to travellers who want to catch flights to Europe straight from the beach resort areas. We are flying on a daily basis, 365 days a year.”

On the way, travellers can enjoy a view of the island that they probably have not seen before, the airline statement said. Flying only a few thousand feet above the ground, far lower than regular jet airliners, they get a bird’s eye view of Sri Lanka’s exotic fauna and flora and the beauty of the Indian Ocean.

“We have received an excellent response from the travel and hotel trades, which welcome this service as an addition to the product that they can market abroad. Staff of hotels and tour operators can meet their customers at the aircraft and provide ground transport straight to the hotels,” said Herman Pereira. “This service could also be used by corporate customers in Sri Lanka and non-governmental organizations as they will find it a very convenient method of travel.”

SriLankan Air Taxi has made any part of the island accessible within an hour. It has been expanding its operations rapidly and now flies to 14 destinations – Kandy, Bentota, Nuwara Eliya, Hingurakgoda, Galle (Koggala), Weerawila, Ampara, Katunayake, Ratmalana, Trincomalee, Sigiriya, Dikwella, Katukurunda, and Anuradhapura.

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