SRILANKAN AIRLINES, the national airline of Sri Lanka (the share split being Government 51%, Emirates 43.6%, and the staff 5.4%) has launched its long awaited amphibious air taxi service from the international airport at Katunayake to six ”waterdromes” spread around the island. The services are expected to become very popular with tourists, the eight-seat high wing Cessna Caravans ideal for this type of operation, somewhat slow but affording travellers a unique opportunity to capture the beauty of Sri Lanka from an aerial perspective. Founded in 1979 as Air Lanka the carrier currently serves 41 destinations across 21 countries. From Heathrow it offers the only non-stop services to Colombo, two-class Airbus A340 aircraft taking just under 11 hours. The airline would like to increase its present 12 services per week to twice daily and when that happens, according to Manoj Gunawardena, UK general manager, Manchester would be the next target.
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