HAVING resumed flights from London to Colombo via Male last year after a 15-year hiatus, British Airways (BA) is axing the route again due to poor load factors.
“The Colombo route is not making a profitable contribution to our business and we are unable to sustain it,” said Christopher Fordyce, regional commercial manager, South Asia, BA, this week.
The service will end on March 28, 2015, but the London-Male leg, where some 90 per cent of BA’s passengers disembark and embark, will restart for the winter season.
Industry sources were unsurprised, pointing to the many other airlines offering the same service. SriLankan Airlines flies to London nine times weekly. Emirates and Qatar also run regular flights.
BA said that with SriLankan Airlines recently joining the Oneworld alliance, customers in Sri Lanka will still be able to enjoy the benefits of BA’s network of flights to Europe and North America.
