SriLankan Airlines plans Colombo-Ahmedabad direct flights; to enhance partnership with Air India

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Seeking to strengthen its presence in India, SriLankan Airlines plans to start direct flights between Colombo and Ahmedabad in the next three months, as well as enhance its partnership with Air India.

Currently, SriLankan Airlines, which is operationally profitable, has 89 weekly flights from Colombo to nine cities in India, and Ahmedabad would be its tenth Indian destination.

The airline's Head of Commercial Dimuthu Tennakoon on Tuesday said Indians account for nearly 40 per cent of the carrier's annual traffic, which stood at over 4 million in 2025.

Subject to regulatory approvals, SriLankan Airlines plans to start four weekly flights connecting Colombo and Ahmedabad.

Once the Ahmedabad flights are operational, Tennakoon said the airline would have a total of 93 weekly services to ten cities in India.

The carrier has flights to Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Trivandrum, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli.

In 2025, around 2.3 million tourists visited Sri Lanka.

At a briefing in the national capital on Tuesday, Tennakoon said India is its largest market, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the airline's total passenger traffic and 23 per cent of overall visitor arrivals to the island.

"With the addition of Ahmedabad, SriLankan Airlines will serve six of India's eight major metropolitan hubs, further diversifying its India portfolio and boosting route economics by capitalising on year-round demand and strong cultural ties between the two countries.

"These initiatives are projected to increase Indian passenger traffic across the airline's network by up to 12 per cent this year," the airline said in a release.

SriLankan Airlines has a fleet of 23 planes, including 10 wide-body and 13 narrow-body aircraft.

Meanwhile, Tennakoon said the airline was in talks with Air India to enhance their partnership. Both airlines have a codeshare partnership for certain routes.

A codeshare partnership allows passengers to travel on a single ticket on different flights.

Apart from commercial flights, the airline occasionally operates chartered services between India and Sri Lanka, mainly for wedding celebrations.

The airline provides connections between the cities it serves in India and the Middle East, the Maldives, the Far East, Europe and Australia through its own and codeshare services. PTI RAM HVA