Cinnamon Air has decided to increase its flights to Nuwara Eliya and Kalpitiya in a bid to increase on the traffic flying to these destinations.
The carrier would be adding seasonal flights by end of July/August for Nuwara Eliya and aim at having daily flights to the destination, Cinnamon Air CEO Romesh David said.
He said they hope to cater to the peak Middle East traffic when the Gulf traveller takes a holiday.
In addition, the carrier has applied for approval from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to add three flights a week to Kalpitiya.
Since there would be a demand locally and from overseas, it was expected that this flight service could cater to the traffic that hopes to fly out from Katunayaka airport upon landing in the country. These services were expected to commence mid-July, Mr. David said. Currently, he noted Cinnamon Air was having very low load factors in the mid 20 per cent, however, some routes like Kandy and Sigiriya were performing better at around 30 per cent of load factor.
Mr. David explained that while they would market their product as part of the package offers along with the travel companies there would be separate bookings also made for their flights.
The carrier is currently in codeshare agreement with the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines. He noted that they were aimed at the tourist market with special offers for the local traveller as well with offers upto 50 per cent discounts on particular locations and distances.
The carrier currently operates over 80 scheduled sectors to eight destinations and originate and terminate at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), he said. The schedules were said to be synchronised with arrival and departures at the airport, and on the South coast Cinnamon Air serves daily flights to Koggala and Dickwella during the summer that is increased to two flights per day during the peak winter season.
At present, Cinnamon Air operates with three aircraft, two of which are amphibious, and have the ability to increase the schedule, Mr. David explained.
Kandy schedules were operated 10 times a week even during the summer and with 11 flights per week to Sigiriya. On average, the carrier charges US$130 per passenger on the Kandy route and US$160 on the Sigiriya route. In addition, to these flights Cinnamon Air flies to Trincomalee three times weekly depending on the profile of the hotels and four times weekly to Batticaloa.
(SD)
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko