Lionair (Sri Lanka)

Lionair was an airline with its head office in the Asian Aviation Centre in Sri Lanka on the grounds of Ratmalana Airport near Colombo.[1] It was a privately owned charter operator. Its main base was Ratmalana International Airport.[2]

Lionair
IATA ICAO Callsign
LN LEO Sri-Lion
Founded1993
Commenced operations1994
Ceased operations2006
Hubs
Fleet size6
Destinations10
HeadquartersRatmalana, Sri Lanka
Key peopleChandran Rutnam, Founder and Chairman
Angelina Jolie is seen during her to visit to Jaffna after traveled by Lionair at the Jaffna Airport in April 2003.

History

The airline was established in October 1993. The airline started its operations on 24 October 1994. Initially it was owned by Lionvert Inc USA (51%), a United States-based investors group and by Sri Lankan investors (49%). Lionvert sold its stake in late 1997. Lionair suspended domestic services when an Antonov An-24 aircraft went missing shortly after it took off from Jaffna in 1998, but resumed services in October 2002.[2]

Lionair had operated services between Colombo and Jaffna since October 1996, until the suspension of services in 1998. They had hoped to resume services in November 1998.[3]

In 2005 Lionair applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka to operate services to the following destinations: Athens, Chennai, Kochi, Denpasar, Dhaka, Dubai, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Malé, Melbourne, Mumbai, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram and Zürich, using Avro 748 and Airbus A320 aircraft.[4]

In 2006 Connexus Air joined with Lionair to assist in the lease and setup of domestic operations using a BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft. It was planned to start the first service by November 2006.[5]

Terminated Routes
Country-City Airport Code Airport Name Notes Refs
IATAICAO
Australia
MelbourneMELYMMLMelbourne AirportTerminated
SydneySYDYSSYSydney AirportTerminated
Bangladesh
DhakaDACVGZRShahjalal International AirportTerminated
Greece
AthensATHLGAVAthens International AirportTerminated
India
ChennaiMAAVOMMChennai International AirportTerminated
KochiCOKVOCICochin International AirportTerminated
MumbaiBOMVABBChhatrapati Shivaji International AirportTerminated
TiruchirappalliTRZVOTRTiruchirappalli International AirportTerminated
TrivandrumTRVVOTVTrivandrum International AirportTerminated
Indonesia
DenpasarDPSWADDNgurah Rai International AirportTerminated
JakartaCGKWIIISoekarno–Hatta International AirportTerminated
Italy
RomeFCOLIRFLeonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino AirportTerminated
Kuwait
Kuwait CityKWIOKBKKuwait International AirportTerminated
Malaysia
Kuala LumpurKULWMKKKuala Lumpur International AirportTerminated
Maldives
MaléMLEVRMMIbrahim Nasir International AirportTerminated
People's Republic of China
GuangzhouCANZGGGGuangzhou Baiyun International AirportTerminated
Singapore
SingaporeSINWSSSSingapore Changi AirportTerminated
Sri Lanka
colomboCMBVCBIBandaranaike International AirportTerminated
colomboRMLVCCCRatmalana AirportTerminated
JaffnaJAFVCCJJaffna AirportTerminated
Switzerland
ZürichZRHLSZHZürich AirportTerminated
United Arab Emirates
DubaiDXBOMDBDubai International AirportTerminated
United Kingdom
LondonLHREGLLLondon Heathrow AirportTerminated

Formerly operated
Aircraft Fleet Introduced Retired
Airbus A320 TBA TBA TBA
Antonov An-24 TBA TBA TBA
Avro 748 TBA TBA TBA
BAe Jetstream 41 TBA TBA TBA
Cessna 152 TBA TBA TBA
Piper TBA TBA TBA

Accidents and incidents
  • On September 29, 1998, Lionair Flight 602, operated by an Antonov An-24RV, fell into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka under mysterious circumstances. The aircraft departed Jaffna-Palaly Air Force Base on a flight to Colombo and disappeared from radar screens just after the pilot had reported depressurization. Initial reports indicated that the plane had been shot down by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels. All 7 crew and 48 passengers were killed.[3][6]

References
  1. "Directory: World Airlines." Flight International. 23–29 March 2004. "TACA Peru" 100.
  2. Flight International 5–11 April 2005
  3. TamilNet 30 October 1998
  4. Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka Archived 2006-10-13 at the Wayback Machine 11 April 2005
  5. Connexus Air retrieved 23 November 2006
  6. Aviation Safety Network retrieved 23 November 2006
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