Air India Cuts Down Operating Flights to Sri Lanka Amid Latter’s Worst Economic Crisis

The flag carrier airline of India Air India has announced on Sunday that will be cutting down its services between India and Sri Lanka. The airline informed that it will be reducing the number of flights to 13 from 16 per week from April 9 because of the decreasing demand. For those unaware, Sri Lanka is currently facing the worst economic crisis in its history. The local public in the country has been the real victim because of the long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts.

The New Schedule

According to a report from PTI, a spokesperson from Air India has informed that the airline is currently operating daily flights every week from Delhi and nine flights from Chennai per week as well. He further informed that as per the new schedule the airline will now be running 13 flights between India and Sri Lanka. He stated that the flights from Chennai will remain the same, however, the number of flights from Delhi will now be reduced to four. According to the new schedule, AI 283 in the Delhi-Colombo sector will now operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from April 8 to May 30. AI 284 on the Colombo-Delhi sector will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April 9 to May 31. Recently, the Sri Lankan government has also blocked social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram after it declared a national emergency and imposed a 36-hour curfew as well. The move came in to avoid the pre-planned anti-government rally over the worst economic crisis in the island nation.