SRILANKAN AIRLINES has made its first genuine profit since 1985. The airline, in which Emirates has a 40% investment, had previously only gone into the black with the help of ancillary services such as cargo and catering, made a profit of ”10.7m in the business year 2001/2002 compared with a loss of similar proportions in the previous 12 months. The ending of the country's 20-year-long civil war, culminating in successful peace talks last month, have encouraged many ethnic Sri Lankans to visit the country and tourist numbers have also started to increase. Columbo has proved to be an ideal jumping off point from the UK for tourists to resorts such as The Maldives.
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