Deccan Aviation has opened a liaison office in Galle to service leisure travellers visiting the historic port city and staying in hotels on the south coast.

“With nearly 20% of our guests flying to and from the Galle area, the time was right to have a more permanent presence. Our liaison office in Galle will take walk-in inquiries where guests can also pay for their services”, Suren Mirchandani, Vice Chairman of Deccan Aviation, who was present for the opening at Pedlars Gallery in the Galle Fort, said.

“We have found that tourists staying in the south find it challenging to drive many hours to other destinations such as Cultural Triangle, the hill country and the east coast. The Galle office is a great way of showcasing our airline and our services to the many people visiting the Fort and is a signal of the importance we place on the relationship that we have built with most of the hotels and villas in the area”, added Mirchandani.

He went on to say, “With other airlines now offering services that mimic ours, it is quite important for us to assert our leading position in this market segment by having a full time presence in Galle.”

Deccan has been operating to Galle since 2004, and its services are widely used by individual tourists and up scale boutique hotels for rapid transfers to the international airport and other destinations throughout Sri Lanka, with the airline offering both helicopters and fixed wing transfers, the latter on a brand new aircraft acquired last year. The airline last week announced that they will be inducting an amphibian aircraft in September this year to augment their existing helicopter and aircraft capabilities.

More recently Deccan was also granted the rights to operate from selected points within Colombo city, and has opened a city helipad at the Colts grounds.