1 week Ago By Sahan Weerasooriya
...
wants impartial probe to clear his nameFormer Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, yesterday (28) said that with the blessings of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government he had been able to operate six flights per week from six Russian airports since 28 Oct., 2024.Weeratunga told The Island that altogether there had been 153 flights to date and they had brought in 58,886 passengers to Mattala.
“99% percent were tourists,” Weeratunga said, adding that since Red Wings Airlines launched flights to Sri Lanka on 28 Dec., 2022, as a result of his direct intervention, there had been 397 flights to Mattata carrying 153,716 tourists.Weeratunga estimated that the country had received USD 246 mn thanks to their efforts to promote Russians to visit Sri Lanka.
The former Ambassador said that there had been a separate project to promote tourrists fron Moldova, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland since 2023. According to him, since 20 Dec., 2023, SkyUp and FlyOne operated 122 flights that brought in 15,511 tourists.
In addition to USD 246 mn earned from Red Wings operation, SkyUp and FlyOne brought in a further USD 24 mn. Tropical Aviation Services functions as the local agent for all three airlines whereas Russian “ANEX”, “FUN & SUN” and Ukrainian travel firm “JoinUP” were involved, Weeratunga said.According to him “Exotic Holidays International”, “Aitken Spence Travels” and “Deluxe Holidays” provided the services required by tourists.
Declaring that his efforts to promote Mattala brought nearly USD 300 mn to the country, Weeratunga urged the government to conduct impartial investigation into allegations that have been made against him over the years. (SF).
