The airline will operate four flights per week from Abu Dhabi to Colombo, using an Airbus A320 aircraft.

The resumption of flights follows the recent end to the war in Sri Lanka. This is likely to provide a boost to the tourism sector and to the wider economy as a whole, reported the Arabian Business.com.
July and August 2009 already witnessed a 30 percent increase in visitors to the country compared to the same period last year, and the Sri Lankan government is now targeting 2.5 million visitors a year by 2016.

“We expect the resumption of Etihad flights to be welcomed by the considerable Sri Lankan expatriate community living in the UAE and those living across the Middle East region who will be able to connect quickly and easily back home via Abu Dhabi," said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive.

“Colombo will be our first new route launch of 2010, and bring to 58 the number of destinations available across our expanding global network.”

The timing of the flights has been carefully scheduled to facilitate onward connections from a number of key destinations on the airline’s network, including Moscow and North America, the company said in a statement.

Etihad will operate a two-class Airbus A320 to Colombo, configured to carry 140 passengers with 20 seats in business class and 120 in economy class.