Etihad Airways announced Sunday they will resume flights to Colombo, Sri Lanka in January 2010. The move follows the recent end to the civil conflict in Sri Lanka and is expected to give the tourism sector and wider economy a boost. The carrier will use an Airbus A320 aircraft to fly four times a week from Abu Dhabi, to Colombo, Sri Lanka’s biggest city and commercial capital.
Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive James Hogan said “Colombo will be our first new route launch of 2010, and brings to 58 the number of destinations available across our expanding global network.” He said there is a substantial Sri Lankan community in the Middle East and they will appreciate being able to quickly and easily return home via Abu Dhabi. The company said the flights have been timed carefully to facilitate onward connections from many key destinations on their network including Moscow and North America.
