Sri Lankan Airlines to start Goa-Lanka flights

BY A CORRESPONDENT
April 22, 2006
Sri Lankan Airlines has announced that it will be starting bi-weekly flights from Colombo to Goa by November. Sri Lankan Airlines and the Sri Lankan Tourist Board have also announced road shows in major Indian cities to attract more leisure travelers to Sri Lanka, at an expense of Rs 1 crore. Goa will be the 10th destination of Sri Lankan Airlines in India.

Said Sri Lankan Airlines Regional Manager N Prabaharan: "We have three main markets in this region, India, India and India. This is the kind of importance we attach to India. Beginning this November we will have two flights a week to and from Goa taking the number of flights between the two countries to 90 from the present 88."

The Sri Lankan tourism package includes shopping packages to Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. According to officials, though Indian form the largest proportion of tourists to Sri Lanka, the number of days they stay in Sri Lanka is less compared to European visitors.

According to the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in India CR Jaya Singhe, Sri Lanka gave visas on arrival to foreign tourists. Visas were required only for business and professional purposes, he said. He also said that there is nothing to fear from the Tamil insurgency in Northern Sri Lanka, since the Tigers have never hurt tourists.