COLOMBO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Abu Dhabi-based airline Rotana Jet will start flights to Sri Lanka's Colombo and Mattala airports from Wednesday, the company said in a statement on Monday.
As a part of the airline's expansion, Rotana Jet has added Sri Lanka as its newest destination.
The airline will operate three flights per week from Al Bateen Airport in Abu Dhabi to Sri Lanka's main international airport in the outskirts of Colombo and to the second Chinese-built international airport in the South, Mattala airport, using an Airbus A319 aircraft in Business and Economy Class.
Fly Dubai the budget airline already operates from Mattala airport.
The airline expects to increase the frequencies to six flights soon, the company said in a statement.
The airline, which started as a charter airline, currently operates flights to Bahrain, Muscat and Salalah in addition to flights to Sir Bani Yas Island, Fujairah, Delma and Dubai.
The Mattala airport was built with a Chinese loan at a cost of 210 million U.S. dollars and is compatible with the latest Airbus A380 aircraft.
Tourism has boomed in post-war Sri Lanka with an increase in arrivals from the Middle East. Last year 24,679 tourists from the Middle East arrived in Sri Lanka, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
Overall the island attracted over 1.2 million arrivals and earned 1.4 billion U.S. dollars from the tourism industry in 2013. Sri Lanka hopes to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016.
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