Cyprus Airways, set to fly Dubai-Colombo return twice a week, has tied up with the Galadari Group`s prestigious five star Galadari Hotel in Sri Lanka`s capital. Introduction of the new Sri Lanka sector for the airline, on November 18, has been prompted by particularly heavy market demand, according to Cyprus Airways` Middle East and Gulf Chief, Stavros Kyprianou.

The tie-up between the hotel and the airline comes directly from Kyprianou`s personal experience of the Galadari Group`s hotels. My association with Galadari hotels as a business visitor spans a number of years and has always been a happy one so it is a real pleasure for me to be able to make this announcement, said Kyprianou.

The Galadari Hotel Colombo is a deluxe 500-room luxury hotel in the heart of the business district, next to the Presidential Secretariat and the World Trade Centre, overlooking the Indian Ocean. The Hotel`s location combined with the largest state-of-the-art bedrooms, business centre, restaurants, entertainment centres and recreational facilities, makes it a popular addresses for the business community.

Cyprus Airways` Dubai-Colombo flights are on Wednesdays and Saturdays and demand is such that an Airbus 320 will be used on the sector from the outset. The flights originate in Larnaca and stop in Dubai on both legs of the journey. This means Cyprus Airways is offering four return flights a week from Dubai to Larnaca instead of the previous two. The initiative represents a major expansion of flights in the Middle East by Cyprus national carrier which has been operating in the Gulf 26 years.

We expect to see a lot of interest in onward connections to South India, said Kyprianou. The direct flights to Colombo will cost AED 1,300 return in economy and AED 3,100 in business class. Cyprus Airways has bucked the global civil aviation trend by increasing passenger traffic throughout the Middle East and on most international routes, according to official figures released recently.