200 flights axed; $ 47 m losses for UL during BIA revamp

Thursday, 6 October 2016 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

SriLankan CEO Capt. Suren Ratwatte acknowledged SriLankan would be hit hard by the proposed scaling back of flights to resurface the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) runway next year with the carrier estimated to face $ 47 m in losses due to the cancellation of about 200 flights.

“We completely agree that this needs to be done but it is very tough for us. The costs remain the same but the number of flights will be less for three months,” he said.

Sri Lankan Airlines has announced the cancellation of flights from Colombo to Chennai, Trichy, Cochin and Bangalore in southern India for three months from January due to runway repair works at BIA. The Lankan national carrier has also cancelled flights flying to Singapore and Male.

The rescheduling of flights remain for three months from January 2017 due to runway repairs that will close the Colombo International Airport during the day time, the airline said in a statement in June.

The airport will remain closed from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. each day for runway maintenance work from 6 January to 6 April, 2017.

Flights from Colombo to Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Trivandrum, New Delhi, Karachi, London and Jeddah will be shifted to alternate times of the day.