TIRUCHY: Residents of the central region of the state having to fly to Sri Lanka and Gulf countries await SriLankan Airlines to resume its operations to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels as they complain that a lone daily flight is forcing those left out to travel to Chennai or Bengaluru in order to catch one to Colombo. Until 2020, SriLankan Airlines operated two daily services between Colombo and Tiruchy.
However, the spread of the Covid-19 virus and subsequent lockdowns brought international flight operations to a grinding halt. While international flights to eight destinations from Tiruchy have been restored since, the operations to Colombo haven’t as SriLankan Airlines is yet to reintroduce its second daily flight.
While the airline handled 82,976 passengers in the Tiruchy-Colombo route in 2023-24, it was 1.83 lakh passengers during the pre-pandemic period (2019-20). With Colombo serving as a transit point for Gulf countries, there is growing demand among passengers from Tiruchy and surrounding districts for additional flights in the sector.
S Usman, a resident of Kajamalai in Tiruchy, who was employed in Oman, said, “Residents of the central region, including Tiruchy, used to fly to Gulf countries via Colombo when the airline operated two daily flights. With it reducing to one flight, frequent flyers are forced to travel via Chennai or Bengaluru to reach their destination in the Gulf.”
Travel tour operator A Nargis Beham said, “The Tiruchy-Colombo sector still enjoys significant patronage. Due to internal economic crisis, the island nation has suspended the second daily flight to Tiruchy. Restoring the service would provide great relief to hundreds of passengers.”