SriLankan starts double-daily services to Mumbai

SriLankan Airlines, for many years the largest foreign carrier operating to India, is expanding operations with the launch of double-daily flights to Mumbai, the country’s commercial capital this February. The additional flight adding to the present daily frequency to Mumbai will also raise the number of flights throughout India to an unprecedented 94 per week to 10 cities - 15 to Chennai, 13 to Trivandrum, 11 to Kochi, 10 to Trichy, 8 to Calicut, daily to New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, and 2 to Goa. Manoj Gunawardena, Head of Worldwide Passenger Sales at SriLankan said: “It will not be long before SriLankan realizes the dream of a hundred flights a week to India! It is our aim to serve as many Indian cities as frequently as possible. Travellers can take full advantage of our rapid connections in Colombo to Europe, Middle East, Far East and the Maldives with the double-daily service from Mumbai increasing the level of convenience.” Flying time from Mumbai to Colombo is a mere 2 hours and 25 minutes.

The new flights are conveniently scheduled to depart Mumbai daily at 2:55 p.m. and arrive in Colombo at 5:20 p.m. The return flights are scheduled to depart Colombo at 11:45 a.m. and arrive in Mumbai at 2:00 p.m. Senaka Fernando, Regional Manager Indian Subcontinent & Maldives, said: “The increase in flights to Mumbai is the result of a recent bilateral meeting between India and Sri Lanka that reinforces the excellent cooperation that exists between the two nations. India has so much to offer in terms of history and culture and we are spearheading massive campaigns to lure more tourists to this fabulous country”. The launch of additional flights to Mumbai is part of SriLankan’s strategic plan to strengthen its market presence in India which remains the foremost tourism generating market for Sri Lanka. The additional flights will also support the airline’s campaign to promote tourism to India from its worldwide network through the Colombo hub.

SriLankan Airlines works in close collaboration with Indian tourism authorities to effectively promote in-bound tourism to India and has a strong marketing partnership with the State Government of Kerala. Operating a fleet of modern Airbus A340’s A330’s and A320’s, SriLankan now serves 50 destinations in 28 countries, and has gained a reputation as an award-winning airline. These include “World’s Best Airline” in a survey of Economy Class passengers, “World’s Friendliest Cabin Staff”, first runner-up for “World’s Best Cabin Staff”, “Best Overall In-flight Entertainment (small fleet), and “World’s Most Efficient Operator of Airbus A330s (small fleet)” from Airbus Industrie. SriLankan has also dominated regional awards, winning the Skytrax award for “Best Airline in Central Asia” for four consecutive years, as well as the TTG Asia Award for “Best Airline in South Asia” three times, and the Galileo Indian Express Award for the “Best Eastbound International Airline from India”.

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