SriLankan Airlines will re-launch its services to  Kochi from  March 1st  2011,  increasing its growing portfolio of Indian destinations to seven.

 The resumption of flights links Colombo and Kerala's commercial capital  Kochi on all seven days of the week.

The morning flight UL165/6 departs Colombo at 0725 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to reach  Kochi at 0835. It leaves  Kochi at 0925 and arrives in Colombo at 1035.

The afternoon departure UL167/8 leaves Colombo at 1420 on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays to reach  Kochi at 1530 and leaves  Kochi at 1620 and arrives in Colombo at 1730.

  Regional  Manager Indian subcontinent for SriLankan Airlines, Mr. Lal Perera says, "With the resumption of our daily service to  Kochi, we will aggressively promote leisure traffic to Colombo  in addition to passengers travelling via CMB to Far East, Middle East and Europe "
With 2011 being declared as the year of "Visit Sri Lanka", the country opens its doors to  tourists from  Kochi and will also be showcased as a vibrant MICE destination.

The resumption of seven daily Colombo- Kochi flights will also add greater impetus to "Visit Sri Lanka 2011", when Sri Lanka opens her doors to  an anticipated 750,000 foreign visitors. 

Up to October this year, a total of 95,579 Indian tourists have visited Sri Lanka, approximately 50% higher than the number of arrivals in 2009 which amounted to 64,447. In 2011 alone, SriLankan Airlines will acquire seven new aircraft thus enabling it to fly to more cities in the Subcontinent, Middle East and Southeast Asia, and to also increase capacity to existing destinations in these regions.

 SriLankan Airlines currently flies to 49 destinations in 31 countries.   Kochi will be the second destination to be added to the airline's network in 2011, with SriLankan scheduled to begin flights to Guangzhou in China next month, increasing its network to 51 destinations in 31 countries.