Sri Lanka, Israel to sign civil aviation deal; first flights in October

A special discussion regarding commencement of direct passenger flights from Tel Aviv in Israel to Colombo was held between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries last week.

The meeting was chaired by Sports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

The civil aviation Authorities of the two countries discussed at length to reach an agreement by resolving the existing problems regarding the commencement of the new air service.

The representatives of the aviation sector from Israel paid special attention to the security conditions at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and the surrounding area during the commencement of flight operations.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka gave a full explanation about the security procedures carried out in the aviation operations of Sri Lanka and the Israeli representatives were satisfied by the security arrangements.

The Civil Aviation Authority said that a memorandum of understanding between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries is to be signed soon, and that the aircraft belonging to Israel’s “Arkia” airline is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka from next October.

Presenting the facts in this discussion, the Minister said that the opportunity to commence direct flights between the two countries came as a result of a discussion between President Ranil Wickramasinghe and the Government of Israel.

He said that a large number of Israeli tourists are looking forward to traveling to Sri Lanka and the commencement of this air service will be very convenient for the Israeli tourists. Also, the Minister said that a large number of Sri Lankan workers are engaged in various jobs in Israel and said that this direct air service will give them great convenience and financial benefit in purchasing air tickets.

Ministry Secretary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra, Civil Aviation Authority Director General P.K. Jayakantha, Israel’s Air Transport Division Senior Director Ishay Don-Yehiya and a group of eight representatives also participated this discussion.