Asian – Dispatch

SriLankan Airlines has taken steps to increase the number of flights operating between Colombo and Melbourne, Australia, to ten per week, with the aim of successfully meeting the rising demand from passengers and current market trends. The rapid growth in Australian tourists visiting Sri Lanka, as well as Sri Lankans visiting relatives in their homeland, has directly influenced the addition of these three new weekly extra flights, effective from August 02, 2026.Australia becoming a highly important and primary market for SriLankan Airlines at present has been a major reason for this expansion.

According to the new flight schedule, the newly added flights are scheduled to depart from Colombo every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Flight UL608 will depart from Colombo at 14:10 (2:10 PM) and arrive in Melbourne at 04:30 AM the following day. Correspondingly, the return flight UL609 from Melbourne will depart at 06:00 AM on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Mondays, arriving in Colombo at 12:15 PM on the same day. These new flight times have been practically designed to allow passengers traveling via Colombo to other destinations like India, as well as tourists spending their holidays in Sri Lanka, to maximize their stay in the country.

In addition to these newly introduced extra flights, the regular daily flight service UL604, already operating between Colombo and Melbourne, will continue without any changes. This daily flight departs from Colombo at 00:20 AM (12:20 AM) every day and arrives in Melbourne at 14:20 (2:20 PM), then departs from Melbourne again at 16:10 (4:10 PM) and arrives in Colombo at 22:25 (10:25 PM). The addition of new flights, alongside this widely used daily service for passengers flying via Sri Lanka to other countries including India, provides a broader opportunity for Sri Lankans residing in Australia to choose flight times that better suit their travel needs. This greatly facilitates them in maintaining closer ties with their relatives and friends in their homeland.

Source: Gossip Lanka News