Sky ‘taxi’ service boosts Sri Lanka tourism options

Offering mountain greenery, tropical beaches, ancient monuments and wildlife reserves, Sri Lanka has a wealth of attractions in a relatively small area – but many tourists have often been deterred from exploration due to the long car journeys needed to transit between the sites.

For 2004, the national carrier SriLankan Airlines has come up with an aerial solution, launching a domestic air taxi service that provides convenient links from the capital Colombo for visitors to destinations such as Kandy, Bentota on the west coast and Trincomalee in the east.

Travelling times have been reduced to between 30 and 40 minutes, compared to three and four hours previously, and the service is being fine-tuned in preparation for growth of high-end tourism in the coming year.

According to airline chief executive Peter Hill, the arrival of upmarket hotel groups such as Banyan Tree and Aman Resorts, as well as expansion by local companies, means demand for speedy transits will spiral.

“The interest shown by these hotel operators underlines the potential of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, but we know that luxury travellers will require the appropriate transport facilities and it is with this in mind that we are expanding our sky taxi operation,” he said.

Originally launched with two Cessna caravan amphibious aircraft, the sky taxi service has revolutionised domestic air travel in Sri Lanka, offering transfers between the airport and Colombo and Kandy, Koggala, Bentota, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura and Hingurakgoda – flight times from Bandaranaika International Airport are just 30 minutes to each town except for Trincomalee, which is a 45-minute transfer.

The network incorporates most major tourist sites, from the beach resorts on the west coast around Bentota and Galle (Koggala) to the ancient ruins at the former capitals of Polonnaruwa (Hingurakgoda) and Anuradhapura, the spices and temples of Kandy and the unspoilt east coast at Trincomalee.

Hill said that subject to prior arrangement, passengers could also fly between each of the points on the domestic network, while the aircraft were also available for private charter for a fee of US$1,000 per flying hour, with a maximum passenger load of eight.

“With four passengers, each will pay only US$100 for each sector, with a children’s discount of 50 per cent, offering a viable alternative to road transfers since SriLankan Air Taxi will enable visitors to see more and enjoy a stress-free travel experience.”

Negotiations are currently underway for a further two aircraft to join the fleet, while the mountain getaway of Nuwara Eliya is set to become the next destination on the air taxi network, with plans for the construction of a short take-off runway at the town’s famous race course.

“We anticipate that in future visitors will opt for travel by air for at least one sector of their Sri Lanka tours,” added Hill. “Not only will they arrive at their destination stress-free and in double quick time, but the views from these relatively low-flying aircraft are spectacular, so there is the bonus of aerial sightseeing en route.”