|
|
 |
| Sunday, 5 May 2002 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Expo Aviation to start Jaffna flights Expo Aviation (Pvt) Limited a member of the Expolanka Group of Companies, will commence operating scheduled flights between Colombo and Jaffna shortly. With over five years experience in international airline operations, Expo Aviation has brought in an IL-18 passenger aircraft to be used on its Jaffna operations. With a capacity of 100 passengers per flight, the company initially plans to operate two flights daily, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, a news release from the company said. "It will be a two class operation with eight business class seats 92 Economy Class seats, said Sabri Marikar, Chief Executive Officer of Expo Aviation. He explained that cabin crew with both local and international experience have already been recruited to work on these flights which would also have specially trained personnel to care for young children and elderly passengers. Expo Aviation is now in the final stage of certification for passenger operations. The company presently operates a leased IL-18 aircraft and a company-owned AN-12 aircraft on international cargo operations to the Far East, Middle East and regional destinations. These include, Male and Gan in the Maldives Islands, Trivandrum, Calicut and Chennai in India, Dubai, Karachi, Lahore, Bangkok and Dacca. "We opted for an IL-18 aircraft for our Jaffna operations since we have plenty of experience with this particular aircraft, having operated a similar one for over a period of two years on international routes," said Marikar, he added 'The experience gained in maintaining and operating a similar aircraft for our cargo operations will enable us to conduct a safe passenger operation." Expo Aviation commenced operations as an international cargo airline in 1997 under Shafik Kassim, the company's Managing Director and was re-certified under International Civil aviation Organisation (ICAO) guidelines in 2000. This was done as part of the strategy implemented by the Department of Civil Aviation in Sri Lanka to bring civil aviation in the Island to international standards. "We are proud to be the very first airline in Sri Lanka to be certified as an airline operator under these international requirements introduced under the ICAO project in Sri Lanka", said Marikar. The company has been approved by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and is a 100 per cent Sri Lankan-owned company. The Expolanka Group, which commenced operations in 1978, today consists of more than 30 companies involved in airline general sales agencies inbound and outbound travel, freight forwarding, imports and exports, general trading, commodity trading, food processing construction, agriculture, real estate, manufacture (garment accessories, packaging material and essential oil), shipping and charter flight operations. The Group has its head office in Sri Lanka with branch offices in India, Dubai, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Madagascar, Pakistan and Maldives. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
