Turkish Airlines will commence direct flights between Istanbul and Colombo effective from October 30, 2023 onwards. The frequency is expected to be four flights per week. “Our previous product, IST-MLE-CMB flight capacity was heavily affected by Male passengers. However, with the dedicated flight to Sri Lanka to Turkey, 100% percent capacity will be dedicated to Colombo, which will enable even more tourists directly coming to beautiful Sri Lanka, without stopping over in Male,” an official from the airline said.
In addition to this, with legged flight over Male, we couldn’t fully utilize our network connectivity. But now, we will utilize our real Network strength and this time quickly connects Colombo to Canada, UK, and USA, Europe mostly with only a few hours connection from Istanbul Airport.”
Source: https://www.dailynews.lk/2023/05/19/business/303681/turkish-airlines-commence-direct-flights-colombo