Aitken Spence Travels in collaboration with Coral Travel and its airline charter armRoyal Flight facilitated its first charter flight from Russia to Sri Lanka for winter 2016/17. The charter arrived on the morning of 1November at the Bandaranaike International Airport.
The maiden voyage consisted of 300 passengers, a high inbound volume from this source market. The charter marks the first of three charters flights per month till the end of May 2017. It is anticipated that a volume of over 5,000 passengers are due to arrive in Sri Lanka on this charter.
Following the water cannon welcome carried out to mark the new charter flight, the visitors were treated to a traditional Sri Lankan welcome comprising of drummers, dancers and flowers along with refreshing kingcoconuts. Subsequently, they were transferred to their respective beach properties.
Coral Travel, its principal, is steering the operation in collaboration with Aitken Spence Travels. The two companies have enjoyed a longstanding partnership in promoting Sri Lanka and the charter is made possible due to the strong belief and commitment Coral Travel has in Sri Lanka and Aitken Spence.
“It’s remarkable that we have succeeded in bringing down a thrice monthly charter considering that arrivals out of Russia is on a decline. Russia has undergone many difficulties including the depreciation of the Ruble, Russians opting for short haul travel, etc. However, now that we have succeeded in bringing in this charter we are confident that the Russian tourists will be enchanted by the beautiful beaches and other attractions Sri Lanka has to offer,” commented Darell De Crusz, Vice President – Aitken Spence Travels.
“The Russian arrivals to the country currently stand at a negative, where Sri Lanka recorded 35,810 arrivals last month, a negative 16% comparing to the 42,552 arrivals in the same period last year. We have had to constantly change our strategies to maintain numbers from this market and this is a great accomplishment in light of these efforts,” De Crusz added.
– Pix by Kumarasiri Prasad, Our Airport Correspondent
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko