Sri Lanka’s national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, has cut down meal services and is scaling down scheduled flights to several European sectors as a cost-cutting measure, a spokesperson from the airline said yesterday.
“We have cut down several scheduled flights to Europe, including those to London, due to the low demand for seats,” the official said, adding that the airline has reduced the previous 12 scheduled flights per week to 7.
Meal services on most flights have also been drastically reduced both by quality and quantity, the official added, citing the example of Colombo-Chennai flights, which earlier used to serve a complete hot meal, along with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages even on economy class.
The sector now only provides a single snack, with beverages provided on request.
Earlier, sources from Sri Lankan Airlines Catering attributed some cutbacks to the fact that Sri Lankan operated code-share flights with its budget sibling, Mihin Lanka.
Flights to the Far East, including Shanghai and Beijing, have increased over the recent months, the official from Sri Lankan Airlines said.
Government’s tourism statistics showed a slight dip in European tourists who arrived in the island, but marked a sharp spike of far-Eastern tourist arrivals over the last year.
CT
