Sri Lanka's state carriers merged

[LUNN]

Mihin Lanka will cease operations from 30 October, all routes will be taken up by Sri Lankan Airlines,

UL will regain some former destinations

Bahrain
Muscat
Gaya
Varanasi
Dhaka

and new ones

Seychelles
Lahore
Madurai
Kolkata
Jakarta

plus A319 as a new type in the fleet.

[AA 1818]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sr...-idUSKCN1240ZJ
The government this week said it has decided to discontinue its budget airlines Mihin Lanka with effect from Oct. 30 as part of the restructure plan, which had posted an accumulated loss of over 17 billion rupees ($115.9 million) as of Jan. 31 since its inception in 2007.

Suren Ratwatte, Sri Lankan Airlines CEO, said the airlines will take over Mihin Air's 11 routes and will operate as a normal airlines instead of a budget airline.

Sri Lankan Airlines, which has taken on lease seven Airbus A330-300s since 2012, has debt of around $3.25 billion.

It posted a group net loss of 16.3 billion rupees ($112.6 million) for the financial year through March 31, narrowing from the 31.4 billion rupees loss of a year earlier, due to lower oil prices. The carrier last posted a profit in 2009, a year after Emirates sold its stake in the venture.

I sincerely hope that re-focusing can return them to profitability.

[MoKa777]

Mihin Lanka will cease operations from 30 October, all routes will be taken up by Sri Lankan Airlines,

UL will regain some former destinations

Bahrain
Muscat
Gaya
Varanasi
Dhaka

and new ones

Seychelles
Lahore
Madurai
Kolkata
Jakarta

plus A319 as a new type in the fleet.

Let's hope it works out.

I guess it is better to have one loss making airline than two...

Streamlining operations is a good way to achieve some kind of financial and operational efficiency.