The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka says seven special flights are scheduled to operate today.
Director General Daminda Rambukwella said two SriLankan Airlines flights will depart today for Riyadh and Dubai.
He noted that while tensions in parts of the Middle East continue to affect aviation operations, several airspaces that were previously closed have now been partially reopened. A larger portion of airspace in certain countries is now open compared to previous days.
Rambukwella said countries such as Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have reopened significant parts of their airspace, even if temporarily. As a result, airlines have begun increasing the number of flights to these destinations compared to recent days.
He added that airlines are hopeful of gradually returning to normal flight operations in the near future.
Accordingly, SriLankan Airlines is operating two flights today—one to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and another to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, FitsAir is operating one flight to Dubai, while SalamAir has operated a reduced service to Sri Lanka, arriving with passengers and departing again.
Flydubai has also arrived from Dubai with passengers and departed again, while Etihad Airways is operating a flight as well.
Furthermore, Qatar Airways is scheduled to operate a flight, while Emirates had initially planned two flights to Sri Lanka but is expected to operate only one today.
According to Civil Aviation Authority Director General Daminda Rambukwella, around eight flights have been operated so far.
