Lanka’s national carrier to stop domestic flights
Colombo, June 1 (PTI): Sri Lanka’s national carrier today announced the grounding of its domestic flight service because of security concerns and a fall in the number foreign tourists.
SriLankan Airlines will make its last domestic flight next Tuesday to the eastern town of Ampara. The carrier has been operating its “Air Taxi” service for just over three years using two Canadian Single Otter aircraft, each with eight seats.
The defence ministry last month banned the airline from using hydro reservoirs for landing the amphibious aircrafts.
“This development together with the declining number of visitors to Sri Lanka, has meant that the Air Taxi is not sustainable in the foreseeable future,” chief executive Peter Hill said in a statement.
The ban was part of measures to deal with the new threat of attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels who are using light aircrafts to bomb civilian and military targets.
Sri Lanka’s only international airport, the Bandaranaike International, is now shut for six hours at night amid fears of nocturnal bombing raids by the rebels.
The number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka has sharply dropped by 20 per cent this year.
source:
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200706011921.htm
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Ug took another look at the map and it would seem that the nearest airfield is quite a drive away in Ampara. Not sure how useful or relavent the info in my last post is..
Not sure how possible this is in reality but according to the Ministry of Defence, it is supposed to be possible for civilians to get free air passage on SLAF aircraft. Assuming of course that the SLAF flys to Ampara very much these days..
Not sure if anyone has actually been able to do this.