SriLankan Airlines starts new flights to Lahore from 27Sep16

SriLankan Airlines later this month is introducing expanded service to Pakistan, which sees the offering of Colombo – Lahore route. From 27SEP16, the oneWorld member plans to operate this route twice a week, with Airbus A320 aircraft.

UL185 CMB2010 – 2335LHE 320 24
UL186 LHE0035 – 0505CMB 320 35

This service is currently scheduled until 28OCT16.

Routesonline

A Pilot of SriLankan's Airlines has suspended because he was drunk at Frankfurt Airport

Colombo – Sri Lanka’s national carrier has suspended a captain who failed a breathalyser test just before he was due to fly 274 passengers and crew from Frankfurt to Colombo, the airline said on Sunday.

“Upon receiving the results [of the test] SriLankan Airlines took immediate steps to suspend the services of the said captain and took alternative measures to operate the flight to Colombo,” the airline said in a statement.

An airline source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Flight UL554 was held up at Frankfurt airport for more than 15 hours on Friday as staff scrambled to find another captain for the Airbus A330.

The crew raised the alarm after noticing that the captain was visibly drunk, the source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, told AFP.

The airline said an internal investigation was underway into the incident and it would co-operate with any probe by German authorities.
The cash-strapped airline is due to stop its flights to Frankfurt from October as it slashes routes to European destinations.

It is also planning to lease out some of its A330 planes to other airlines in an attempt to raise cash. Suffering from an accumulated $1bn loss, it is seeking a foreign partner to take over its management.

Aviation News

Four Airlines are interested in SriLankan Airlines

Four airlines – Turkish Airlines, Hainan – China’s largest privately-owned air transport firm, Japan’s ANA and Indonesia’s Garuda Airlines – have shown interest in crisis-hit SriLankan Airlines which is looking for a partner, official source said.  They also said BNP Paribas and KPMG appointed as transaction advisors in Sri Lankan Airlines’ quest to find a strategic partner have tapped a number of foreign airlines in creating an ‘appetite’ towards a partnership with the debt-ridden national carrier.  ”The two agencies solicited certain parties by discussing with certain airlines in their data base/airlines that they work with,” a top official close to the restructuring of the national carrier told the Business Times.

He added that as both parties have international presence, they tapped these airlines to send in their Expressions of Interest (EOI). “They did their own solicitations and some were successful,” he said.  NSB Fund Management (NSBFM), a unit of state-run National Saving Bank (NSB) and the lead managers to airline’s restructuring drive, said that while there’re eight EOI confirmed for the national carrier, two more are being finalised.NSB Chairman Asvin de Silva told the Business Times that a project management team under NSBFM has already received eight EOI and two are still being worked out.

The EOI timeline for the ‘reorientation’ of SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka has been extended by a week until August 31, as the ‘appetite’ for the EOI was encouraging, he said. ”We extended the EOI closing date till end of this month. By about end of September we’ll be collecting the EOIs. Once we go through them, we aim to shortlist the EOI and call the shortlisted parties to submit proposals,” he said adding after this they will get these parties to carry out a due diligence on the airline.

The Sunday Times

PIA to lease 3 Airbus A330 from SriLankan

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) signed a wet-lease agreement with SriLankan Airlines for three A330s, PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand confirmed to ATW.

“The first aircraft will be delivered [from Aug. 1], while the rest [will come] in the following months,” PIA said July 29.

According to the Pakistan flag carrier, the A330s will be used primarily for a 6X-weekly premier service to London Heathrow, which is being launched Aug. 14. Three weekly flights will be operated from Islamabad and three from Lahore.

“Our main airport is Karachi, but the metropolis is no longer the center it once was. The best business for PIA will be generated from Islamabad and Lahore,” PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand told ATWrecently.

With the A330s, more professional crew and improved service standards, PIA wants to deliver a more positive experience to passengers, to regain its market share, according to the statement.

“The carrier has become rather old-fashioned over the years. We want to change this, improve the product, and bring PIA to a standard similar to that of other world carriers,” Hildenbrand said, adding the carrier is on a fundamental path of change, encouraged by the government, to move into a new era.

PIA’s premier service should be expanded to other destinations as more aircraft arrive.

In addition to the three wet-leased A330s, up to five of the airline’s 11 Boeing 777s will be reconfigured with new business- and economy-class cabins, new inflight entertainment systems and services. The first reconfigured aircraft should be available from February 2017.

SriLankan has been facing increased competition, especially from Gulf carriers, and this fall will close two out of three European services—Frankfurt and Paris.

ATWOnline

Iran Air courts SriLankan over unwanted A350s, codeshare - ch-aviation.com

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, says Iran Air (IR, Tehran Mehrabad) has yet to make a decision concerning the possible lease of three A350-900s from SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo Int'l).

Last week, Sri Lanka's Business Times quoted officials in Colombo as saying Iran Air's CEO Farhad Parvaresh and an unspecified Iranian Minister had held cordial talks with Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Public Enterprise Development, Eran Wickramaratne, and other ministry officials concerning the Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) machines as well as a possible codeshare agreement between the carriers.

With the A350 no longer a part of its longterm business plans, SriLankan has attempted to shed itself of its seven unwanted A350-900s, three of which it will lease from AerCap with the remainder due directly from the manufacturer. Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Atatürk) has also been courted concerning its interest in the twinjets.

For its part, Iran Air plans to acquire sixteen of the larger A350-1000s under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Airbus earlier this year. The deal also includes twenty-one A320ceo family jets; twenty-four A320neo family jets; twenty-seven A330ceo family jets; eighteen A330neo (-900) jets; and twelve A380-800s. The A380 aspect of the order is, however, in jeopardy Reuters has reported. The Iranians state the A380 was simply an option in the order which was put there in part for political reasons and which can be converted to other aircraft models if need be.

Iran Air courts SriLankan over unwanted A350s, codeshare - ch-aviation.com

SriLankan Ends Paris / Frankfurt Service in W16 :: Routesonline

SriLankan Airlines in winter 2016/17 season is cancelling 2 European routes, including Frankfurt and Paris CDG. The airline currently operates 5 weekly Colombo – Frankfurtand 4 weekly Colombo – Paris CDG flights. Existing schedule as follow.

Colombo – Frankfurt Last flight on 29OCT16
UL553 CMB0005 – 0705FRA 333 1
UL553 CMB0025 – 0730FRA 333 357
UL557 CMB1215 – 1920FRA 333 6

UL554 FRA1520 – 0450+1CMB 333 x246
UL558 FRA2050 – 1020+1CMB 333 6

Colombo – Paris CDG Last flight on 06NOV16
UL563 CMB0130 – 0900CDG 333 x124
UL564 CDG1500 – 0450+1CMB 333 x124

SriLankan Ends Paris / Frankfurt Service in W16 :: Routesonline

SriLankan to axe France, Germany flights in 4Q - ch-aviation.com

SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo Int'l) has revised its international longhaul network plans with service to both France and Germany to be discontinued during the last quarter of the year.

The carrier said in a statement issued Monday, June 27 that its 4x weekly service to Frankfurt Int'l would end on October 30, while its 4x weekly service to Paris CDG would end on November 6. Daily flights to London Heathrow will, however, be retained.

Last year, management planned to scrap both services only to retain them in the hopes a decline in fuel prices would help offset either route's continued losses. However, following a meeting last week with the carrier's owner, the Sri Lankan government, the decision was taken to axe both routes given Colombo's unwillingness to sustain further losses.

"Addition of capacity to the Colombo Int'l market, particularly by Middle Eastern carriers, accompanied by a drop in airfares in European markets, has seen the contribution of the European network's drop in comparison to other routes. This has been further exacerbated by the depreciation of the Euro against the Dollar," the statement read.

In line with plans to focus more on regional services to India, the Gulf, and China, SriLankan has decided to scrub its planned order for seven A350-900s. Three of the aircraft were to have leased from AerCap with the remaining four ordered direct from Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac).

SriLankan to axe France, Germany flights in 4Q - ch-aviation.com

SriLankan in talks to lease A350s to Turkish Airlines - ch-aviation.com

SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo Int'l) has entered into negotiations to lease Turkish Airlines (TK,Istanbul Atatürk) three of its four A350-900s on order from Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac). 

According to Sri Lanka's Business Times newspaper, government officials close to the talks say a deal is close at hand. As previously reported, the fourth jet has already been sold to an undisclosed lessor.

Three A350 airframes - cn 52, 55, and 60 - that SriLankan was scheduled to have leased from AerCap have already been completed and are currently awaiting fitment of their Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 powerplants and interiors. As such, SriLankan was to have taken delivery of cn 52 in July with cn 55 and 60 to have followed during the last quarter of the year. Images of cn 52 seen by ch-aviation show SriLankan's logo has now been removed from its fuselage.

SriLankan management says the aircraft no longer fit their business model which has shifted focus from longhaul to regional operations in recent months.

SriLankan in talks to lease A350s to Turkish Airlines - ch-aviation.com