Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations

Thursday, May 9, 2013

May 9, 2013

An effigy of Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake being torched during a protest held in front of the Kelaniya University today (09), demanding hostels and for authorities to improve facilities for students at the university. The protest, organized by the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), also called on the government to “stop selling degrees” at private universities. (Pic by Sanjeewa Lasantha)

Air Arabia suspends flights to Mattala

THURSDAY, 09 MAY 2013

Air Arabia, the only international carrier that flew to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), is believed to have either cancelled or temporarily suspended its flights to the newly built second international airport in southern Sri Lanka.

The website of the Sharjah based airline no longer provides reservation facilities to or from MRIA and the airline’s destination map only contains Colombo as its sole Sri Lankan destination.

When contacted by Mirror Business, Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Dr. Ravindra Ruberu, cited low levels of passenger traffic as the primary reason behind disruptions to the flight schedule.

“Reports that Air Arabia has completely stopped flights are false. We have signed agreements with them that state that they will fly to Mattala however the frequency of flights is for them to decide based on the levels of passenger traffic”

A website called airlineroute.net reported that Air Arabia has cancelled its flights to MRIA from May. When queried, Nawaloka Aviation Pvt Ltd General Manger, Ramly Vilcassim, General Sales Agent (GSA) for Air Arabia in Sri Lanka, told Mirror Online that Air Arabia is operating at MRIA without any disruptions.

But he declined to comment on the frequency of flights. CEO of Mattala Airport, Derick Karunaratne was unavailable for comment

When questioned about frequency of flights and passenger arrivals into Mattala, several officials from government owned service provider, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited declined to comment.