On February 11, Cathay Pacific Airways announced that it will resume its passenger services to and from Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, with effect from March 30, 2008. The airline will operate a daily service using a Boeing 777-300 aircraft routed through either Bangkok or Singapore.

Three flights a week, operating as CX703, will go via Bangkok every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Hong Kong at 18.35 and arriving in Colombo at 00.15 the next day. The return CX700 service departs Sri Lanka at 01.45, arriving in Hong Kong at 12.10.

On all other days of the week the flight will be routed through Singapore. CX711 departs Hong Kong at 16.15 and arrives in Sri Lanka at 22.45, while the return CX710 service departs Colombo at 00.15 on the following day and lands in Hong Kong at 12.15.

Cathay Pacific Director Corporate Development Augustus Tang said: "We are very pleased to be able to resume services to and from Colombo. Sri Lanka is an important market for both passengers and cargo and getting the destination back into our network will certainly be beneficial for the Hong Kong hub."

Cathay Pacific suspended its operations to Colombo in April 2007 due to security concerns. The airline did a thorough audit before making the decision to resume flights and is confident that new security measures in place at Colombo airport meet the airline's exacting safety requirements.

The news about the resumption of Colombo flights follows on the heels of a recent announcement about increased services to India. Cathay Pacific will add 10 flights a week to Delhi and six flights a week to Mumbai by March 30. In addition, it will launch Chennai as a destination on June 1, with four flights a week, while sister airline Dragonair will begin a daily flight to Bangalore on May 1.

The Cathay Pacific Group as a whole will operate 53 passenger flights a week from Hong Kong to five countries on the subcontinent - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - by June 2008.

Details of the Colombo flights, effective March 30, 2008, are as follows: