Direct flights between Sri Lanka and Israel soon

Sri Lanka and Israel have agreed to commence direct flights between the two nations. 

Discussions on commencing direct flights had been initiated between the Ministry of Tourism and diplomatic missions, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said. 

He added that the discussions were part of measures to attract more foreign tourists to Sri Lanka after the country reopened to tourists. 

As a result of these discussions, it is expected that direct flights between the two countries will commence soon. 

The Tourism Ministry expects between 2000-5000 Israeli tourists to visit the country from May to September once such flights commence. 

Meanwhile, several other international airlines including Russia's Aeroflot, Air Arabia in Sharjah, Flydubai in Dubai, Jazeera Airways in Kuwait and Vistara in India are all currently in discussions on commencing direct flights to Sri Lanka, the Ministry added. 

A total of 35 international airlines operated direct flights to Sri Lanka prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several of these, including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Turkish Airlines, China Eastern and Singapore Airlines have already recommenced direct flights to the country, the Ministry stated.