Sri Lankan start-up Air Ceilão has applied to the country's civil aviation authority for an air operator's certificate and hopes to be in the air by May 2025.
An Air Ceilão spokesperson confirmed to ch-aviation that the AOC application was submitted and that the carrier aimed to start operations using two A320 Family aircraft.
Previously, Air Ceilão chairman Janith Kashan said he wanted to harness Sri Lanka’s strategic position as a regional aviation hub and would initially operate to "key destinations in the Middle East and Asia Pacific."
The Air Ceilão spokesperson says the network plan for the first year of operations includes:
- five weekly roundtrips between Colombo and Dubai International;
- five weekly roundtrips between Colombo and Doha Hamad International;
- five weekly roundtrips between Colombo and Chennai;
- four weekly roundtrips between Colombo and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi;
- four weekly roundtrips between Colombo and Singapore Changi; and
- three weekly roundtrips between Colombo and Malé.
If Air Ceilão secures the necessary licences and gets off the ground, it will become Sri Lanka's fourth active scheduled operator, alongside SriLankan Airlines, FitsAir, and Cinnamon Air.
