Swiss International Airlines, a member of the Lufthansa Group, recommenced operations to Colombo on Friday (November 05).
The inaugural flight from Zurich to Colombo, LX 8064 operated by an Airbus 340 touched ground at 7:30 a.m. and was welcomed by a celebratory water cannon salute upon arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) followed by a traditional Kandyan dance performance and an inaugural ceremony to welcome the guests.
Reportedly, 96 passengers have arrived on this flight. The VIPs present to greet the flight included Ambassador for Switzerland to Sri Lanka & the Maldives Dominic Furgler , State Minister of Aviation and Export Zones Development D. V. Chanaka, Senior officials of Airport & Aviation Services, Civil Aviation Authority and senior officials of Sri Lanka Tourism.
The weekly service to Colombo every Friday with a capacity of 314 seats will feature 27 seats in Business Class and 287 in Economy. The economy cabin includes 70 seats with an extra recline and legroom.
“With the commencement of Swiss International Airlines, it will support to boost the tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka after the pandemic and strengthen the economic cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, finance, education and culture between Switzerland and Sri Lanka. We have been continuing our efforts to make sure that our airports are operated in compliance with the international standards of health and safety. Further, we are with the plans to upgrade the aviation industry of Sri Lanka introducing new technology and digitalizing our airports to give a seamless passenger experience,” State Minister D. V. Chanaka said.
The airline was scheduled to operate a twice-weekly service year-round pre-COVID pandemic. “Gauging from the interest demonstrated now by potential visitors to the island, we are optimistic we could revisit this plan in the not-too-distant future” stated Parveen Dassenaike, Chairperson and Managing Director of United Ventures – the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Lufthansa Group in Sri Lanka.
The distance from Zurich to Colombo is 8023 kilometers / 4332 nautical miles with an estimated flight time of nine hours and fifty-six minutes. Zurich serves as a convenient hub to the rest of Europe and the Americas and Swiss is offering attractive/competitive fares on its services.
