May 09, 2013 (LBO) - Travel agents said they have stopped issuing tickets on Air Arabia, a UAE based budget carrier, in the Sharjah to Mattala sector, after the airline halted flights to the new airport. Aviation ministry secretary Ravindra Ruberu said flights have been temporarily suspended but they are likely to resume by August. According to the ‘airline route. net’ website, reservations to Mattala on the airline’s website is no longer available.
Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa announced in March that that it has added Mattala as its second destination in Sri Lanka. The new route marked Air Arabia’s 84th destination worldwide. The inaugural flight G9508 landed in Mattala on March 18.The low-cost pioneer operated two weekly services between Sharjah and Mattala, and it was to be increased to four times weekly starting May 19.
Air Arabia was the first foreign airline to land an in the Mattala Rajapaksa airport, when it opened in March. State-run SriLankan flies to Mattala and FlyDubai is also expected to start operations to Mattala later in the year.