SriLankan Airlines is exploring opportunities to expand its network to Perth, China and Africa, with CEO Vipula Gunatilleka Mishra saying the national carrier must take the lead in developing new routes to support Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
Speaking to the media, Mishra said there was strong potential for flights to Perth following a recent tourism roadshow conducted in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry.
“We see there is a strong demand in Perth. We do see that China needs to restart anyhow. We really need to deploy capacity,” he said.
He also highlighted the need to revive the airline’s long-discontinued African connections, noting that additional aircraft would be required to support the proposed expansion.
“We’ll have to get aircraft from outside to deploy that. And then, of course, the long-lost Africa route that we need to revive,” he said.
Mishra stressed that the national carrier had a responsibility to develop routes that other airlines might initially consider commercially unattractive.
“Nobody would bleed their money to open that route as tourism or as transiting traffic for Colombo. It is the national carrier who has to step up,” he said.
He acknowledged that flights on newly introduced routes might initially operate with lower passenger loads but argued that developing these connections was essential for the country’s long-term tourism growth.
“Initially, the flights are not going to be full because we are the ones who will develop these routes. Competition will always come after us once we develop the route,” he said. (Newswire)
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