Air Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan launched charter flights to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) yesterday and hopes to launch two weekly flights every Saturday from April.
The airline started operations to Sri Lanka for the first time yesterday. "This we believe is indeed a historic occasion in view of the confidence that has been placed on post pandemic Sri Lanka by this leading airline," said Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga.
He said that more airlines have expressed willingness to operate flights to the MRIA and the Bandaranaike International Airport. "We also hope to relax restrictions for tourists such as reducing the number of Polymerize Chain Reaction (PCR) tests similar to that in Dubai and the Maldives and in line with the rules offered for repatriation,” he said. He added that since opening Sri Lanka for tourism 10 days ago over 2,500 visitors have arrived in the country. State Minister for Aviation and Export Zones Development, D.V. Chanaka said that the MRIA was earlier used to store paddy and listed for privatisation but soon the airport will air freight paddy and other cargo. He said the loss by storing paddy and clearing the air-conditioning system was over Rs. 300 million. He said that Flydubai will also start direct flights again from MRIA.
The General Sales Agent for Astana Airlines is Lanka Sportsrizen.