KLM resumes flights to Colombo after nearly 20 years

At the start of the 2016 winter schedule, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will resume direct services to Sri Lanka’s Colombo International Airport from October, the airline said in a statement last week.

The first flight to Colombo is scheduled to depart on Monday, 31 October 2016. This marks KLM’s return to Sri Lanka after an absence of almost 20 years.

KLM suspended service to the Sri Lankan capital (then served via Abu Dhabi) in 1997 as the war escalated.

“Sri Lanka has been a safe and stable country since the civil war came to an end in 2009. Since then, the economy – tourism in particular – has grown exponentially. Sri Lanka’s per capita income doubled in the past ten years and the island is a popular tropical leisure destination for Europeans, the Amsterdam-based airline said.“

Throughout the winter season, KLM will operate twice-weekly service to Colombo, departing from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Mondays and Fridays, and returning from Colombo on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The flights will be operated with the latest addition to KLM’s intercontinental fleet: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has 30 seats in World Business Class, 48 seats in Economy Comfort and 216 seats in Economy Class.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size widebody, twin-engine jet airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Its variants seat 242 to 335 passengers in typical 3-class seating configurations. It is Boeing’s most fuel-efficient airliner and is a pioneering airliner with the use of composite materials as the primary material in the construction of its airframe. The 787 was designed to be 20% more fuel efficient than the Boeing 767, which it is intended to replace. The 787 Dreamliner’s distinguishing features include mostly electrical flight systems, swept wingtips, and noise-reducing chevrons on its engine nacelles. It shares a common type rating with the larger Boeing 777 to allow qualified pilots to operate both models.

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