Kerala: Lankan Airlines to fly flights to Jeddah

Kochi, Mar 16: Spreading its wingspan, Sri Lankan Airlines, the international airlines with the largest network in India, will launch its twice daily flight to Jeddah from Kerala.

Speaking to newspersons here last night, Manager of Kerala Operations Samantha Nagahawatte said the flights would originate from three destinations in the state-- Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode every Tuesday and Friday.

He said the new services, to be operational by March 27, would help in handling the regular 'Umrah' movement to Jeddah, the gateway to the holy city of Mecca.

Mr Nagahawatte said with the introduction of these flights, the airlines would have a global network of 51 destinations.

The airlines with more than ten destinations had the largest international netwrok in India and increased the number of flights from 87 to 94 with the introduction of double daily flights out of Mumbai, he added.

He said the airlines had also recently introduced travel packages to attract Indian tourists to the island nation.

In the package the travellers were offered various choices of destinations from the metropolis of Colombo to the beach resorts of Benetto and Negambo, he added.

UNI