Cyprus Airways spread its wings to Sri Lanka

Introduction of the new Sri Lanka sector, on November 18, has been prompted by "particularly heavy market demand", according to Cyprus Airways' Middle East and Gulf Chief, Stavros Kyprianou.

"It became clear we required traffic rights on the Dubai-Colombo route and we're confident the sector will perform extremely well," says Kyprianou.

Cyprus Airways Dubai-Colombo flights will be Wednesdays and Saturdays. An Airbus 320 will be used on the sector.

The initiative represents a major expansion of flights in the Middle East by Cyprus national carrier which has been operating in the Gulf 26 years.

The flights will originate in Larnaca and stop in Dubai on both legs of the journey. This means Cyprus Airways will be able to offer four return flights a week from Dubai to Larnaca instead of the current two.

Cyprus Airways' Gulf Manager, C.K. Hussain, says the carrier's fares for Colombo will be at attractive rates.

He says the passenger line-up to Sri Lanka is likely to comprise holiday makers from the Gulf, Lebanon, Cyprus and Europe plus business travelers and the large-scale labour market.

"We also expect to see a lot of interest in onward connections to South India", says Hussain.

He also says the additional flights from Dubai to Larnaca will make for more convenient connections for onward travel with Cyprus Airways to Athens, Amsterdam, London, Manchester, Milan, Paris and Frankfurt.

Hussain says the new Cyprus Airways ground staff in Sri Lanka have been given special training in Dubai last week. "Its all part of providing the best possible service".

A delegation from the UAE and Cyprus comprising senior Cyprus Airways executives and travel agents will visit Colombo in October as part of the groundwork for the first flight.

Cyprus Airways has bucked the global civil aviation trend by increasing passenger traffic throughout the Middle East and on most international routes, according to official figures released recently.