SriLankan Airlines increases Melbourne flights to 10 per week

Daily Mirror and Newswire report that SriLankan Airlines plans to add three Colombo–Melbourne return services each week from November 15. Ada Derana also reports a rise in weekly Melbourne flights. The Hiru News (සිංහල) headline describes an increase in flights to Melbourne, while Hiru News (தமிழ்) reports an increase in the airline’s Australia services.

Newswire says the added services are scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, in addition to the current daily Melbourne flights. It reports that the new Colombo service leaves at 2.15 p.m. and reaches Melbourne at 5.40 a.m. the next day; its return is scheduled to depart Melbourne at 7.10 a.m. and reach Colombo at 12.10 p.m. The existing daily Colombo flight leaves at 12.35 a.m. and arrives in Melbourne at 4.00 p.m., while its return departs Melbourne at 5.30 p.m. and lands in Colombo at 10.30 p.m., according to Newswire.

Newswire reports that the revised schedule will bring SriLankan Airlines’ Australia operations to 14 flights each week, with 10 serving Melbourne and four serving Sydney. The airline linked the expansion to growing travel demand between Sri Lanka and Australia, and described Australia as an expanding source of visitors to Sri Lanka, including holidaymakers and members of the Sri Lankan diaspora.

Newswire says the airline expects the extra flights to reduce transfer times for passengers travelling through Colombo to London, Chennai, Delhi and Malé. It also reports anticipated improvements in links to other Australian and New Zealand destinations via partner airlines, and in cargo space and transit speed, especially for freight from Melbourne routed through Colombo to the Middle East.