Azur Air launched direct seasonal flights to Sri Lanka today with 332 passengers, the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited (AASL) said.

They said the first flight arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) which was welcomed by a celebratory water cannon salute organised by the AASL. The passengers were warmly welcomed with a traditional Kandyan dance performance organised by Sri Lanka Tourism.

This season, Azur Air will be operating B767-300 with a seating capacity of (full flights inbound) 336 (economy class) and will be operating five flights per week from five cities in Russia. (VKO-Vnukovo: OVB-Tolmachevo: KJA-Krasnoyarsk: LED-St. Petersburg and AER-Sochi).

The AASL is expecting around 40,000 Russian tourists in Sri Lanka.