The UAE’s airline, Emirates, has cut its weekly flights to Colombo from 22 to 18 until August 26 because of very high insurance costs, a company spokesperson said.
The four flights to Singapore and Jakarta via Colombo will now fly directly to the two destinations, the spokesperson told the Gulf New on Tuesday.
Sri Lankan information officials earlier stated that their flight schedule would change after August 5.
Insurance firms have raised the premium by huge amounts for every flight through Colombo following the Tamil Tigers separatists' attack on Colombo airport two weeks ago, industry sources explained.
Carriers have to cut back to balance services to what is commercially viable, they added.
Insurance premiums on aircraft are generally around 0.1 percent of their value, but flights through Colombo have been slapped with an insurance surcharge of up to $115,000, depending on the aircraft, said the paper - Albawaba.com
·
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
