Air Sahara spreads wing, to fly to Lanka

Air Sahara is going to start its much awaited Sri Lanka operation from April 7 this year, chief executive officer Uttam K Bose announced in Kolkata on Saturday.

The private airline, owned by the Sahara group, has received nod from the Centre to operate 21 flights a week ex-India to Colombo. Bose informed the first flight will fly the Chennai-Colombo-Chennai sector.

"This is going to be a momentous occasion for Air Sahara which is flying to an international destination for the first time. We plan to ramp the operation in phases as there is perceived demand for quality service," Bose said.

Air Sahara intends to connect cities such as Delhi and Mumbai to the Colombo flight to facilitate movement of travellers. Flights connecting Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and, at a later stage, Gaya, to Colombo would follow.

Air Sahara made a goodwill trip to Colombo in November 2003. However, it was waiting for government permission to launch commercial flights to Colombo. Sahara is also seeking government approval for other destinations in the SAARC region.

Sahara expects much of the traffic to Colombo to be tourists as Indians were visiting the island in growing numbers. A large number of religious tourists from Sri Lanka visit Buddhist shrines in India.

The airline could grow this traffic by providing connecting services to places such as Sarnath (Varanasi), Bodhgaya (Patna) and Kushinagar (Gorakhpur) in future.

Sahara is planning to induct six new aircraft in 2004. Bose said the airline will have 25 carriers by end-2004. "These will be 150-seater aircraft," Bose said.