Goa to become SriLankan Airlines’ 50th destination

The famed Indian coastal resort town of Goa is to become SriLankan Airlines’ 50th global destination, and the 10th in India, with the airline planning to launch services from Colombo in October.

SriLankan offers nearly a hundred weekly flights to New Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madras, Trichy, Trivandrum, Calicut, and Kochi.

Peter Hill, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines, said, “We at SriLankan are acutely aware of the growing importance and opportunities of the travel market both into and out of India. SriLankan has positioned itself as the link between India and the rest of the world, and we have been steadily expanding our presence there in the last few years. We are very excited about commencing services to Goa, which we see as having excellent commercial prospects.”

The twice-weekly flights, which will be of two hours’ duration, are scheduled for Mondays and Saturdays.

Barry Brown, Chief Commercial Officer, said, “SriLankan continues to explore further opportunities by increasing our services to India, and we are currently considering launching services to more cities, as well as increasing the frequency of flights to existing destinations.”

“We believe this service would be very useful for travellers between Goa on the one hand and our destinations in Europe and the Middle East on the other,” said N. Prabaharan, Regional Manager Sri Lanka & Indian Subcontinent. “There is also a large volume of traffic between India and Sri Lanka, which is expected to keep on increasing.”

Bilateral travel between India and Sri Lanka is at an all-time high with Indians being among the most frequent visitors to Sri Lanka. In return, Sri Lankans now rank as the third largest block of visitors to India, after the United States and Britain.

Large numbers of Indian shoppers descend on Colombo throughout the year to snap up name-brand clothing at bargain prices, as well as the island’s traditional products of tea, gemstones, and exotic handicrafts. Many Indian families also choose Sri Lanka for their vacations, with its mix of 2,500-year-old culture, wildlife parks, breathtaking scenery, and golden beaches.

The airline’s domestic arm, SriLankan Air Taxi, has made the entire island accessible within an hour, and now serves 14 destinations, with the low-flying amphibious aircraft giving a breathtaking view of the panorama of Sri Lanka, combined with the exhilaration of a landing on water.

Colombo has become a destination of choice for many Indian companies for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE tourism), taking advantage of the excellent facilities in hotels on the Indian Ocean island, and combining business with a vacation for their employees or management.

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