Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation Prof. M.D. Lamawansa, in his welcome remarks, highlighted the importance of Sri Lanka as an attractive tourist destination for Russian tourists and mentioned the importance of having direct flights from Moscow to Colombo in order to increase number of tourists visit from Russia to Sri Lanka. Country Manager for Sri Lankan Airlines Shermal Perera, in Russia mentioned that there will be one flight per week after the resumption of direct flights from Colombo to Moscow. Representing agents for Sri Lankan airlines in Russia Aleksandra Anisimova, made a detailed presentation about the operation of the flight followed by showing a promotional video of Sri Lankan airlines.
The resumption of direct flights from Colombo to Moscow will be a great opening to rebuild the presence of Sri Lanka in all spheres including political, economic, tourism, trade, cultural etc. not only in the Russian market and but also in the entire CIS region.
The absence of direct flights from Russia to our country makes a restricting influence on tourist and business travel which also increases the travel time considerably. On the other hand, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire travel and tourism industry of Sri Lanka and rest of the world to a standstill. However, when the most of the foreign travelers were reluctant travel with the current restrictions on health and safety guidelines that are implemented, travelers from Russia and other CIS countries continue to visit Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 outbreak and shown their interest in visiting Sri Lanka by Russia being in the top ten sources markets. Therefore, the resumption of the SriLankan airlines direct flights from Colombo to Moscow will be a timely decision to attract the untapped potential from CIS region
It was highlighted that Sri Lankan Airlines will closely work with Sri Lanka Embassy in Russia together with other promotional organizations in Sri Lanka such as Sri Lanka Tea Board, Export Development Board, Board of Investment etc. as aviation contributes to the sustainable economic development, maintenance of social and cultural ties between countries and allows people to feel that they are not so far away. The event concluded with a hope that the resumption of direct flights of SriLankan airlines from Colombo to Moscow will take place soon.
