Sri Lanka’s national airline, Srilankan Airlines, yesterday announced that it will be suspending flights to Paris and Frankfurt from October and November this year.
Accordingly, the last flights between Frankfurt and Colombo will be operated on October 30, while the last flight to Paris will be on November 6.
The airline said that the government of Sri Lanka has made it clear that it will no longer fund continuing losses.
A statement by the airline said that the route network is being continuously evaluated in the context of changing market dynamics in order to maximise on sustainable routes which bring in more contribution towards the bottom line, Xinhua reports.
“While the drop in fuel prices has contributed to the airline’s improved performance, this benefit has been significantly eroded with the airline’s revenues declining for the financial year ending 2015/16 compared to the previous year. Addition of capacity to the Colombo market particularly by Middle Eastern carriers, accompanied by a drop in airfares in European markets has seen the contribution of the European network drop in comparison to the other routes. This has been further exacerbated by the depreciation of the Euro against the Dollar,” Srilankan airlines said.
Sri Lankan operates daily flights to both Doha and Abu Dhabi and has a strong code share relationship with Etihad and Qatar Airways through which it will continue to provide onward connectivity to the European destinations it has been serving via Paris and Frankfurt.
London will remain the airline’s gateway to Europe, where the airline has deployed its state-of-the-art A330-300 fleet for daily non-stop operations, providing a greater comfort and an enhanced flying experience to its passengers.
The Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and the Far East will remain Sri Lankan’s focal markets, where the airline will continue to explore its potential for expansion.