SriLankan Air Taxi, the domestic arm of SriLankan Airlines, will begin daily scheduled return flights from Colombo to Bentota and Koggala from 1st November, providing a further boost to the country’s tourism industry.

“This service is intended to coincide with the Winter tourist season, and is expected to greatly assist hoteliers and tour operators in the southwestern and southern resort areas in marketing their products,” said Herman Pereira, Manager Air Taxi at SriLankan. “Our amphibious aircraft will carry passengers from Colombo to Bentota in comfort in less than half an hour, and on to Koggala in another 40 minutes.”

In comparison, a road trip to Bentota can take up to 3 hours, and up to four hours to Koggala.

Flights depart the Bandaranaike International Airport at 6:30 a.m, arrive at the Bentota River at 7:05 a.m. and get to Koggala Air Force Base at 7:45 a.m.

The return flights depart Koggala at 8:30 a.m, and Bentota at 9:10 a.m, and touch down at BIA at 9:45 a.m.

“The schedule has been designed to provide the greatest convenience and shortest transit time for passengers from Europe who arrive on SriLankan Airlines’ flights from London, Paris and Frankfurt, to go straight on to their hotels in Bentota, Beruwala, Kosgoda, Koggala, Galle, etc, without having to battle through traffic in and around Colombo,” said Herman Pereira. “The same convenience applies to travellers who want to catch flights to Europe straight from the beach resort areas. We are flying on a daily basis, 365 days a year.”

On the way, travellers can enjoy a view of the island that they probably haven’t seen before. Flying only a few thousand feet above the ground, far lower than regular jet airliners, they get a bird’s eye view of Sri Lanka’s exotic fauna and flora and the beauty of the Indian Ocean.

“We have received an excellent response from the travel and hotel trades, which welcome this service as an addition to the product that they can market abroad. Staff of hotels and tour operators can meet their customers at the aircraft and provide ground transport straight to the hotels,” said Herman Pereira. “This service could also be used by corporate customers in Sri Lanka, non-governmental organizations, etc as they will find it a very convenient method of travel.”

SriLankan Air Taxi has made any part of the island accessible within an hour. It has been expanding its operations rapidly and now flies to 14 destinations – Kandy, Bentota, Nuwara Eliya, Hingurakgoda, Galle (Koggala), Weerawila, Ampara, Katunayake, Ratmalana, Trincomalee, Sigiriya, Dikwella, Katukurunda, and Anuradhapura.

SriLankan, which now flies to 48 destinations in 27 countries, has turned itself into an award-winning airline in recent years. Its accolades include "Best Airline" in the Central Asia / Subcontinent region for four consecutive years, “Best Airline in South Asia” for three consecutive times, "World's Friendliest Cabin Crew," First Runner-Up for "World’s Best Cabin Staff," "World’s Best Airline" in a survey of Economy class passengers, "World’s Best Inflight Entertainment" for a small airline, and “Best Airline Turnaround of the Year 2004.” SriLankan’s sterling reputation for punctuality prompted Airbus Industrie to name it the most reliable airline anywhere in the world to operate A330 aircraft.