Business | Aviation
More Emirates flights to Colombo
Effective on Wednesday, Emirates has stepped up its presence in West Asia with additional services to Colombo and the Maldives from its home base in Dubai.
- Staff Report
- Published: 22:52 July 1, 2009
- Image Credit: Hadrian Hernandez/Gulf News
- Emirates' decision to fly more frequently to Colombo and Maldives is expected to help tourism, business and student travel.
Dubai: Effective on Wednesday, Emirates has stepped up its presence in West Asia with additional services to Colombo and the Maldives from its home base in Dubai.
The expansion also signals the resumption of Emirates flights on the Maldives-Colombo route.
Emirates will add four flights to Colombo and five to Maldives, bringing its total frequency to 18 flights per week to Sri Lanka and 14 flights per week to the Maldives.
EK654 will operate on a circular route, Dubai-Maldives-Colombo-Dubai, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday using an Airbus A330 in a three-class configuration of 12 first, 42 business and 183 economy seats.
Emirates will also introduce an additional direct connection between Dubai and Colombo every Friday (EK650), and another two connections between Dubai and Maldives on Wednesday and Friday (EK658).
These services will be operated with the technologically-advanced Boeing 777 aircraft offering 12 first, 42 business and 310 economy class seats.
The additional services will offer passengers the convenience of morning, afternoon and evening departures. Majid Al Mualla, Vice-President of Commercial Operations for West Asia and Indian Ocean, noted: "The introduction of over 1,800 seats [per week per direction] on the two routes will be welcomed by business, leisure and student travellers. Business and student travellers from Sri Lanka can take advantage of the extra flights that seamlessly connect to onward points in North America and Europe via Dubai.
"At the same time the enhanced capacity offers convenient connections to Sri Lanka's burgeoning expatriate population working in the Middle East and travelling home all year round.
"There are expectations that tourist traffic into Sri Lanka will improve during the winter season of 2009. In line with this expectation, local authorities are already considering improvements in the tourism infrastructure. By introducing additional services and promoting these across our robust international network, Emirates is supporting the local government's campaign to revive Sri Lanka's tourism industry."
Al Mualla added: "Our extra flights will grow the tourism potential of Maldives - a popular getaway for leisure travellers from Europe and the Middle East. Furthermore, the resumption of services between Maldives and Colombo will encourage inbound tourists to opt for a two-destination holiday.
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