SriLankan to add four new aircraft to fleet by end January 2024
SriLankan Airlines will add four new aircraft to their fleet by end January 2024 bumping up its total aircraft capacity count to 25, a release from the airline said.
Firstly, on December 29, 2023, a newly leased Airbus A320 aircraft bearing the serial number 4R – ABS would be added to the fleet. Leased for six years, the aircraft arrived from Malaysia to Colombo on December 21, 2023) and will be put into service immediately after customization and branding.
The aircraft is notably equipped with Sharklet wingtips that reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency. It will be primarily deployed on the airline’s short and medium-haul routes covering the Indian subcontinent, the Far East, and the Middle East. With a configuration of 12 Business Class seats and 138 Economy Class seats, 4R – ABS will allow SriLankan to increase its seat capacity on these routes.
Its inaugural scheduled flight is currently expected to take place on 29 December 29 ’23 to the Maldives. This aircraft is the first of a number of aircraft and engines that will boost the fleet in the coming weeks.
By the start of January 2024, SriLankan expects another three aircraft to be flying with the addition of a wet leased A330 and the arrival of two more engines. The airline will also be taking another sister aircraft to 4R – ABS that is scheduled to arrive in March 2024.”
SriLankan Airlines now has 12 narrow-bodied aircraft and 10 wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet.
“The year has been challenging for SriLankan and the whole industry with shortages of available aircraft and engines, and supply chain issues extending maintenance times. This has led to a reduction in flights.”
Meanwhile in another release SriLankan Airlines says that they apologise to those customers who have had their travel disrupted by a number of cancellations and delays over the past few days. At the same time, we had delays in the arrival of two spare engines and a newly leased A320 aircraft.
This severely depleted the available fleet at very short notice leaving us with no option but to cancel some flights and delay others. We regret that this has disrupted the travel plans of many passengers during this festive season.”
Going forward, the situation should improve considerably in the coming days as we received our newly leased A320 aircraft three days ago, and we have a further two A320s returning to service with replaced engines in the next week.
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