Sri Lankan Airlines will begin operating daily non-stop flights between Colombo and Australia, the airline revealed on Monday.
According to Sri Lankan airlines media, the flight service from Colombo to Melbourne, Australia will commence on October 29.
The airline will be operating an Airbus 330-200 aircraft on the route between the two continents.
Maldivians wishing to fly to Australia will now be able to fly to Bandaranayke International Airport in Colombo, and get the Sri Lankan airlines connecting flight to Melbourne, which runs daily.
For this route, a one-way ticket to Melbourne via economy class costs approximately USD 550, while return tickets costs about USD 1,117. Business class tickets cost USD 1,159 for one-way, while return tickets costs USD 1,980.
According to the interim flight schedule, the flight from Male to Colombo is scheduled at 8:40pm, and the connecting flight to Melbourne is at 11:20pm.
The flight from Colombo to Melbourne is eight hours.
The non-stop service will also facilitate passengers from the Middle East and South Asia, seeking onward connectivity via Colombo to, and from Australia.
“Despite the absence of direct connections, we have witnessed a steady increase in passengers travelling between Colombo and Melbourne via various Asian connecting points such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Our direct services will give us a definite advantage as Sri Lankan is the only carrier that is able to offer connectivity of this nature at this time,” Sri Lankan Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Siva Ramachandran had said.
A lot of Maldivians currently reside in Australia, while a large number of local students also go to Australia every year for higher studies.
