Emirates adds flights to Malé and Colombo

Emirates increased its presence in south Asia yesterday with additional services to Colombo and Malé from Dubai. The airline said yesterday that the expansion signals the resumption of Emirates' flights on the Malé-Colombo route.

The airline will add four flights to Colombo and five to Malé, bringing its total frequency to 18 flights per week to Sri Lanka and 14 flights per week to Maldives, serviced by Boeing 777 aircraft offering 12 first-, 42 business- and 310 economy-class seats, said Emirates in a statement.

It said it will also introduce an additional direct connection between Dubai and Colombo once a week (every Friday) and two more connections between Dubai and Malé on Wednesday and Friday.

Majid Al Mualla, Vice-President, Commercial Operations, West Asia and Indian Ocean, Emirates, said: "There are expectations that traffic into Sri Lanka will improve during the winter season of 2009. By introducing additional services and promoting these across our international network, Emirates is supporting the local government's campaign to revive Sri Lanka's tourism industry."

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