Earlier this week we published here our first interview with the new CEO of Arkia Airlines. In an interview with Oz Berelowitz, he revealed that the company plans to approve direct flights to Sri Lanka, and now, the approval has been received and Arkia has begun selling tickets to one of the most beautiful beach destinations in the world.
Flight prices start at $778 for those who book a flight from the end of March and return to Israel on April 2. Direct flights will start from February 6 and will be carried out on Arkia's Airbus planes, with prices on most dates hovering around $900 for round-trip flights.
Soon direct flights with a refueling stop, photo: Moshe Shai
It is important to emphasize that at this stage, when it is not yet possible to fly over Oman, Arkia planes will have to take a bypass route that will extend the route and require a short refueling stop of less than an hour in the Seychelles. Stopping refueling will not require disembarking from the aircraft. The flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka will take about 12 hours in total.
If flights over Oman are possible soon, the flight time to Sri Lanka will be significantly shortened to below 9 hours. The decision to stop flying over Oman was made at the beginning of the war, and as of now, there are no Israeli airlines operating flights over the country.
Israelis still don't know the magical country, photo: Moshe Shai
Arkia is considered an excellent destination for surfers, but not only. The country has quite a few areas with excellent hotels for families, the price level in Sri Lanka is cheap compared to the prices we know from Europe and the risk level according to the NSC classification is the lowest, level 1.
In an interview we held with Berelowitz earlier this week, he also discussed the new destination the airline will fly to, Lisbon. As of now, there is no date for the opening of the route to Lisbon, but this is a decision by the airline and the date for the start of flights is expected to be made in the coming weeks.
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