Aeroflot flies back to Sri Lanka after 4 months

Russia’s Aeroflot flight arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this morning (October 10), resuming flights between Moscow and Colombo after a lapse of 4 months.

Aeroflot is the national carrier and the largest airline of the Russian Federation.

With the arrival of an Aeroflot Flight, the Moscow-Colombo route will be reinstated, on conditions being promised by the Sri Lankan Government that none of its planes will be grounded or arrested.

On 02nd June 2022, SU289, A330-343 aircraft was scheduled to depart from Colombo to Moscow with 191 passengers and 13 crew members, but it was not allowed, as the owner of the aircraft – Celestial Aviation of Ireland had filed a case against the airline, for a pending arbitration on the lease of the aircraft in London.

Following the legal dispute, Aeroflot also announced that it was suspending commercial flights between Colombo and Moscow.

Aeroflot is the oldest international airline that operated flights to Colombo, and it has been operating the Moscow-Colombo route since 1964.

Russia remains the third largest tourism source market year-to-date with 51,300 arrivals, behind India and the UK.

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow in September announced that Aeroflot will resume flight operations to Sri Lanka with effect from the 09th October 2022.

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow in consultation with the Government of Sri Lanka played a pivotal role by making a diplomatic representation with the Government of the Russian Federation in order to resume Aeroflot’s flights on this route.