HLT HELITOURS Company slogan Discover Serendipity Website www.helitours.lk Founded 1979 | Destinations 13 Key people Rasanga de Zoysa Fleet size 16 | |
Hubs Ratmalana Airport, Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport | ||
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Helitours is a domestic airline in Sri Lanka operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force with aircraft not required for military use. It is currently the second largest airline in Sri Lanka with a fleet of 16 aircraft behind Sri Lankan Airline's 23.The airline dominates the RML-TRR-JAF route on a thrice weekly basis on their Chinese-built Xian MA60 aircraft.
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History
Helitours' air service was started in 1972 on the initiative of Air Chief Marshal Deshamanya Paddy Mendis to cater to the tourist industry.
By the end of 1972 Helitours was flying to Male as well.
In 1973 a Convair 440 was purchased second hand from Eastern Airlines, to boost Helitours' operations between Ceylon and the Maldives.
In the early 1980s operations first slowed down, then stopped due to operational requirements emerging from the onset of the Sri Lankan civil war.
However, in 2009 upon cessation of hostilities the air force restarted Helitours' operations. During the civil war, the air force provided civil air transport to Jaffna, but this was not considered to be a Helitours operation.
Destinations
Helitours is set resume its flights to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Malé in the near future using Xian MA-60 aircraft
Fleet
Helitours will add 16 helicopters(Fourteen MI17s with 20-seater capacity and two Bell 412 helicopters) by the end of 2014, and in the future will order 6 narrow-body jet aircraft like the Airbus A319.