COIMBATORE: After a gap of 10 years, flight service between Coimbatore and Colombo resumed on Sunday. The flight took off with 118 passengers and 1.4 tonnes of cargo, making the Sri Lankan Airlines operators happy. Financial problems had forced the airlines to discontinue the service 10 years ago.
Speaking to reporters, Sri Lankan Airlines’ Worldwide Head (Sales) Lal Perera said, “Initially, our operations will be on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The flight will depart from Colombo at 1.30 pm and reach Coimbatore at 2.35 pm. It will leave Coimbatore at 3.35 pm to reach Colombo at 4.45 pm.”
If the response continued to be good, service would be extended to all days.
“This flight will regularly connect passengers to Dubai, Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait in three to five hours. Once in a week, it will connect Japan also. From Colombo, passengers can avail services to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, the UK, US and Europe. The new services will aid the business community in Coimbatore and surrounding districts,” Perera added.
“Airbus 320 is used for the operations between Colombo and Coimbatore. It has 12 seats in the business class segment and 132 in the economy class,” Sri Lankan Airlines Manager (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) S P Mohan said.
“We have an introductory fare of `11,800 for economy class. Under GST, economy class is taxed at five per cent and business class at 12 per cent. The taxation does not have much impact on our industry,” he said.