UAE national airline Etihad Airways said it will resume flights to Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo from January next year following the recent end to the civil conflict in the country.

The airline will operate four flights per week from Abu Dhabi to the largest Lankan city using an Airbus A320 aircraft, Etihad said in a statement.

Flight EY266 will depart Abu Dhabi on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 9.55pm and arrive at Colombo’s Bandaranaike international airport at 3.45am the following day.

Return flight EY267 will depart Colombo on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 4.45am, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 8am the same morning.

The resumption of flights follows the recent end to the civil conflict in Sri Lanka and the boost that this is likely to provide to the tourism sector and to the wider economy as a whole, said a top official.

“Colombo will be our first new route launch of 2010, and bring to 58 the number of destinations available across our expanding global network,” said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive.

'Sri Lanka is an established market with a strong local traffic base. 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,' he noted.

'This year July and August already witnessed a 30 per cent increase in visitors to the island compared to the same period last year, and the Sri Lankan government too is now targeting 2.5 million visitors a year by 2016,' he added.

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, Hogan pointed out.

Colombo is located on the west coast of the island and close to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka.

With a population of around 650,000, the city is the island’s commercial centre, home to a majority of Sri Lanka's corporate offices, restaurants and entertainment venues. Famous landmarks in Colombo include Galle Face Green, the Viharamahadevi Park and the National Museum.-TradeArabia News Service