summary
- SriLankan Airlines expands widebody capacity with A330 wet-leased from Belgian Airlines.
- The A330 will initially operate on international routes to Dhaka, Dubai and Frankfurt.
- The addition of this aircraft increases Sri Lanka’s long-haul capacity and complements its current A330 fleet.
SriLankan Airlines has expanded its widebody capacity with an A330 wet-leased from Belgian Airlines. The jet is scheduled to begin international flights to Dhaka, Dubai and Frankfurt in the coming days.
Sri Lanka adds Belgian Airlines A330
Sri Lanka’s flag carrier made the announcement on its social media channels on Christmas Day. The deal will see the airline wet-lease an Airbus A330-200 (registration: OE-LAC) from the Belgian airline, adding to its fleet of 10 A330s.
The two-class A330, with 22 business seats and 240 economy seats, has been operating flights on behalf of French airlines Corsair and Air Senegal in recent months, according to Flightradar24 data. This will strengthen Sri Lanka’s long-distance transport capabilities, and the aircraft is scheduled to enter service on December 29th, serving destinations such as Dhaka, Dubai, and Frankfurt.
About OE-LAC
The aircraft is a 10-year-old A330-200 that was delivered to Air Belgium in November 2022 as part of a lease agreement with Altaair Air Finance. The aircraft previously flew under the Etihad Airways umbrella for more than five years from 2014 to 2019 and was stored at Teruel Airport (TEV) for almost two years due to the pandemic.
The A330 was delivered to the Sri Lankan base in Colombo (CMB) on December 24th after a nine-and-a-half hour flight from Brussels (BRU). The aircraft is powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines, and according to ch-aviation data, as of September 30, 2023, he has achieved more than 30,275 hours of flight time.
Sri Lanka has a long history, with the A330-200 first flying the type in 1999. Since then, its -200 fleet has been reduced to just three aircraft (excluding OE-LAC), and the average age is approaching 20 years. . The airline’s widebody fleet also includes his A330-300, of which it operates seven of his aircraft with an average age of over 8.5 years.
Second plane in a week
The airline, which has been looking to add narrowbody capacity to its A320 fleet since the summer, on Dec. 21 added another Airbus A320-200, bringing the total to six of the type and eight in the A320 family (including the A320neo). (2 aircraft owned).
Photo: SriLankan Airlines
The aircraft (registration: 4R-ABS) can accommodate up to 150 passengers in a two-class configuration: 12 business and 138 economy. It will be deployed primarily on the airline’s short-to-medium-haul routes across the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and the Far East, and is scheduled to fly its first commercial service on December 29, the same day its wet-lease A330s begin flying.
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