Aitken Spence Travels Brings in Russian Charter to Sri Lanka

(PRESS RELEASE) - Aitken Spence Travels, the premier destination management company in Sri Lanka in collaboration with Coral Travel & their airline charter arm, Royal Flight in facilitating their first charter flight from Russia to Sri Lanka for winter 2016/17. The charter arrived this morning, 1st of November 2016 to the Bandaranaike International Airport. The maiden voyage consisted of 300 passengers, a high inbound volume from this source market. The charter marks the first of three charters flights per month till the end of May 2017. We anticipate that a volume of over 5,000 passengers are due to arrive in Destination Sri Lanka on this charter. Following the water cannon welcome carried out to mark the new charter flight, the visitors were treated to a traditional Sri Lankan welcome comprising of drummers, dancers, flowers along with refreshing king- coconuts. Subsequently, they will be transferred to their respective beach properties. Coral Travel our principal will be steering this operation in collaboration with Aitken Spence Travels. The two companies have enjoyed a longstanding partnership in promoting Destination Sri Lanka and the charter is made possible due to the strong belief and the commitment Coral Travel has on Sri Lanka and Aitken Spence. “It’s remarkable that we have succeeded in bringing down a thrice monthly charter considering that arrivals out of Russia is on a decline. Russia has undergone many difficulties including the depreciation of the Ruble, Russians opting for short hall travel etc. However, now that we have succeeded in bringing in this charter we are confident that the Russian tourists will be enchanted by the beautiful beaches and other attractions Sri Lanka has to offer, commented Darell De Crusz, Vice President – Aitken Spence Travels. “The Russian arrivals to the country currently stand at a negative, where Sri Lanka recorded 35,810 arrivals last month, a negative 16% comparing to the 42,552 arrivals in the same period last year. We have had to constantly change our strategies to maintain numbers from this market and this is a great accomplishment in light of these efforts,” concluded Darell De Crusz.