SriLankan to axe France, Germany flights in 4Q

SriLankan Airlines has revised its international longhaul network plans with service to both France and Germany to be discontinued during the last quarter of the year.

The carrier said in a statement issued Monday, June 27 that its 4x weekly service to Frankfurt Int'l would end on October 30, while its 4x weekly service to Paris CDG would end on November 6. Daily flights to London Heathrow will, however, be retained.

Last year, management planned to scrap both services only to retain them in the hopes a decline in fuel prices would help offset either route's continued losses. However, following a meeting last week with the carrier's owner, the Sri Lankan government, the decision was taken to axe both routes given Colombo's unwillingness to sustain further losses.

"Addition of capacity to the Colombo Int'l market, particularly by Middle Eastern carriers, accompanied by a drop in airfares in European markets, has seen the contribution of the European network's drop in comparison to other routes. This has been further exacerbated by the depreciation of the Euro against the Dollar," the statement read.

In line with plans to focus more on regional services to India, the Gulf, and China, SriLankan has decided to scrub its planned order for seven A350-900s. Three of the aircraft were to have leased from AerCap with the remaining four ordered direct from Airbus Industrie .

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