Massive development programmes to modernize Colombo City

The government has embarked upon a massive development program for the development of City of Colombo and its surroundings. Under the master plan for Colombo City development prepared by the Urban Development Authority, development of Independence Square, refurbishment of old Dutch hospital building at Colombo Fort, conservation of Fort areas including Beira Lake and its surroundings, development of Pettah Bus Terminal reserving commercial areas for pavement hawkers have been completed.

Under this massive development programme, the Manning market is to be shifted to Peliyagoda and the Bus Terminal is to be expanded covering the Manning market while putting up a Commercial Complex for payment hawkers. The Central Super Maket ( former fish market) in Pettah is also to be refurbished.

The construction work of these projects will be entrusted to the Engineering Services Divisions of the Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Air Force in order to minimize construction costs.

SriLankan Airlines recommences services to Zurich

SriLankan Airlines spreads its wings to the Swiss city of Zurich today, the latest destination in the continuous expansion of its global route network.

Zurich would be the 58th destination in SriLankan’s global route network which would then span 33 countries. The Airline has in the past 11 months launched services to Shanghai , Guangzhou , Kochi and Moscow .

Zurich was served by Sri Lanka ’s National Carrier for a quarter of a century from 1980, but the service was suspended in 2005 during a global slump in air travel.

SriLankan Airlines Chairman, Mr. Nishantha Wickremasinghe said, “We are delighted to re-launch services to Zurich which we have been planning for some time. This will significantly strengthen our services to travelers in central Europe, which is viewed as a market with great potential for tourism to Sri Lanka .”

The Zurich service would be operated on wide-bodied Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft with luxurious interiors, Flat Bed Seating, and state of the art Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment systems.

The service will initially be twice-weekly on Monday and Friday and would be increased in the future.