Addu City becomes part of SriLankan’s network

SriLankan Airlines has started its scheduled direct flight operations between Colombo and Gan, Addu City.

The operation was made official with the UL 119 which came from Colombo to Gan at 8:10 am, this Thursday, carrying the CEO of SriLankan, Captain Suren Ratwatte.

CEO Ratwatte was greeted upon arrival at Gan by General Manager of Addu International Airport – Ibthishama Ahmed Saeed, SriLankan Area Manager for Maldives Sujeewa Rodrigo, and Managing Director of Ace Aviation Services Maldives – the general sales agent of SriLankan in Maldives – Mohamed Firaq.

The Maldivian and tourist passengers on board the UL 119 were greeted with a water salute.

Speaking to reporters, CEO Ratwatte said that despite the financial difficulties faced by SriLankan, it did not want to miss the opportunity to expand its network and made the decision to start direct flight operations in Gan.

“We believe there’s great opportunity here. Maldives is one of our best markets. We seized the business opportunity when we saw it. We are in a dire state, financially. But this is a business. We need to expand our business, right?” said Ratwatte.

He said that SriLankan hoped to increase its traffic in the Addu City region.

“I used to fly to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in the 80’s. The place has gone through a huge transformation. I hope to see such development to Addu as well. We hope to match the frequency of SriLankan’s flights to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport here in Addu,” he said.

General Manager of AIA, Ibthishama said that the SriLankan’s operations in Gan was just the beginning, and that additional operations would be set up.

“This is just the beginning of the dreams of the people of Addu becoming a reality. This is the start of something big. God willing, Gan International Airport will be made the airport with the largest number of flight operations,” said Ibthishama.

After the UL 119 from Colombo to Gan, UL 120 left from Gan to Colombo with 120 of its economy class seats and 16 of its business class seats full.

SriLankan’s direct flight operations in Gan International Airport will bring as end to those living in the southern atolls traveling to Male’ to leave for abroad.

Colombo is the main transit point of South Asia. And SriLankan travels to 102 destinations in 47 countries across the globe.

SriLankan offers direct flights between Gan and Colombo on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.