Emirates gets green light for more daily frequencies

Emirates has been given approval by the Sri Lankan government to increase frequencies between Dubai and Colombo to seven per day from a current five. The new flights will be effective from July 28 on a temporary operating permit basis on condition that Sri Lankan Airlines will be allowed a second, daily flight to Dubai, official sources revealed.

This decision has been taken after a lengthy discussion at a recent Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) meeting. The increased frequency provides air passengers with greater flexibility in their travel plans, allowing them to explore exciting areas in Sri Lanka and connect to other flights on Emirates’ extensive global network, a senior official who attended the CCEM meeting recently, said. CCEM has also decided to allow flydubai, Dubai’s budget carrier, to reduce its flights to Mattala Airport to four per week from seven based on the same condition attached to allowing Emirates more flights.The committee was of the view that reducing the number of flights to four per week to Mattala airport is better rather than completely terminating the service.