SriLankan Airlines resumes long haul expansion with Melbourne but focus is mainly on regional growth

SriLankan Airlines is resuming long haul expansion on 29-Oct-2017, with the launch of a daily service to Melbourne in Australia. Colombo-Melbourne will become SriLankan's second long haul route (over nine hours) after Colombo-London Heathrow - the airline's only surviving European route following a major restructuring in 2016.

The airline dropped Frankfurt and Paris in 4Q2016 and cancelled an order for A350s which were initially intended for European expansion. Melbourne is an exception in a new short haul focused network strategy, and will not be followed by any other new long haul destinations.

Over the past year SriLankan has been focusing on growing regional routes within Asia as part of a new strategy aimed at improving profitability and making the airline attractive to potential investors. SriLankan has been highly unprofitable for nearly a decade, accumulating losses of more than USD1 billion since its last profit in the fiscal year ending Mar-2008.