SriLankan Airlines has announced in the last week that it has added a leased Airbus A320 to the fleet to boost its operations out of Colombo.
Registered as 4R-ABS, the 8.3 year old airframe originally started out life with Royal Brunei Airlines as V8-RBW before being handed over to the new recipient on December 21, as per data from Planespotters.net.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
SriLankan Adds Leased A320 To Boost Colombo Ops…
As per information from SriLankan Airlines, 4R-ABS will be with the airline for the next six years at least, under the terms of the leasing arrangement.
This means that from their hub in Colombo, there are now 12 narrowbody and 10 widebody aircraft in the fleet.
It’s first commercial sector will be to the Maldives, which is expected to take place on December 29th.
In a statement, the airline said the following on this:
“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. However‚ 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.”
What remains clear is that once such supply chain issues and extended maintenance times are addressed, SriLankan Airlines of Colombo will have some growth plans facilitated by the new aircraft acquired on lease.
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