Emirates to resume full schedule of Colombo services

Emirates has announced that it is to resume its full schedule of weekly services to Colombo from Sunday, reaffirming its commitment to providing a comprehensive air service to Sri Lanka.

The number of flights had been reduced due to the hefty increase in insurance rates levied on each aircraft landing at the capital's Bandaranaike International Airport following the Tamil Tiger attacks there on July 24.

The new Emirates Winter 2001 schedule shows flights to Colombo back almost to full strength with 10 weekly services, and the return of Boeing 777 flights on the Dubai-Colombo-Singapore-Jakarta route.

Emirates' 11th weekly service is expected to resume on November 15, completing the return to normal operations.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates' Commercial Operations Director, said: "We are very pleased to reaffirm our commitment to serving the people of Sri Lanka and to show our support for the business and leisure community in their operations.

"We were compelled to scale down operations following the high insurance premiums that were imposed after the airport attack. These surcharges were removed recently, enabling Emirates to resume normal operations."

From Sunday, Emirates will operate 10 flights from Dubai to Colombo, six of which will be routed via Male in the Maldives, and four to Singapore and Jakarta.