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FITS Aviation (Pvt) Limited, DBA FitsAir (formerly known as ExpoAir), is a Sri Lankan airline. It operates scheduled passenger services within Sri Lanka, as well as international cargo flights to several cities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and also operates charter flights to India. The company slogan is Friend In The Skies. FitsAir is a subsidiary of Aberdeen Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, a diversified conglomerate headquartered in Sri Lanka.
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| Founded | 1997 (as Expo Aviation) | ||||||
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| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 3 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Colombo, Sri Lanka | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
ExpoAir was the first airline in Sri Lanka to be certified under the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) annex requirements, as well as being the first domestic airline to be certified by the Department of Civil Aviation to commence flights to Jaffna.
History
edit
Expo Aviation was established in 1997, with operations commencing in 1998 using 2 Antonov An-8 aircraft, which were later replaced by An-12s.
In 2001, Expo Aviation started domestic operations to Jaffna using Ilyushin Il-18 and Antonov An-26 aircraft. Soon after this, the airline was renamed ExpoAir.
The next year, in 2002, the airline leased 3 Fokker F27 aircraft from Oman Air. An additional IL-18 started operating in 2003, and ExpoAir launched cabin crew training in 2004.
In 2005, Expo Air applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) to operate international air cargo services to Malé, Mumbai, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Vizag, Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Kathmandu, Chittagong, Dhaka, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat, Jeddah, Beirut, and Cairo, as well as various cities in Australia, Africa, and Europe, with the short-haul routes utilizing the Airbus A320 and long-haul routes utilizing the Airbus A330 and Airbus A340 models.[1] In 2006, ExpoAir added a Douglas DC-8 to its fleet and sold a Fokker 27.
Starting in January 2012, Expo Air relaunched its scheduled passenger flights from Ratmalana Airport to Jaffna Airport with a brand-new Cessna 208 Caravan. The aircraft has 12 seats and passengers are able to reach Jaffna in less than 1 hour.
In 2019, the airline expanded its domestic operations by introducing scheduled flights from Colombo to Batticaloa.[2]
Scheduled domestic operations to Jaffna resumed in February 2020 with three flights weekly operated on their ATR 72-200.
In November 2020, the airline leased a former Thomas Cook Airbus A321 modified to carry cargo to operate nonstop flights to Dubai.
In 2021, the airline got three A320-200 aircraft, which are dry-leased for passenger operations. On 5 October 2022, Fitsair ceremonially started its very-first scheduled, commercial passenger flights, launching Colombo (CMB) to Dubai (DXB). Later, this service was launched as a daily service due to higher demand from 26 March 2023. On 20 February 2023, airline launched Colombo (CMB) to Chennai (MAA) service. In May 2023, the airline crossed the 50,000 passenger mark for the first time since their scheduled passenger service started in October 2022.[3]
Destinations
editFitsAir serves 7 domestic destinations and 7 international destinations in 5 countries, as of September 2024.
Fleet
edit
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers (Economy) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 3 | - | C8 Y156 | 4R-EXQ, 4R-EXR, 4R-EXS |
| Cessna 208B Grand Caravan | 1 | - | 12 | 4R-EXO Wet leased by David Peiris Aviation |
| Cessna 152 | 1 | - | - | 4R-FAB Operated by FitsAir Flight Academy |
| Cessna 150 | 1 | - | - | Operated by FitsAir Flight Academy |
| Total | 6 | - |
Historical fleet
edit| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-8 | 3 | 3 | 4R-EXA,[11] 4R-EXB, 3C-ZZO[12] | |
| Antonov An-12B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4R-EXC[13] |
| Antonov An-24RV | 1 | 1 | EX-24808[14] | |
| Fokker F27 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 4R-EXG,[15] 4R-EXH, 4R-EXK (ex- 4R-MRA, 4R-EXF)[16] |
| Ilyushin Il-18 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4R-EXD, UR-CFR, EX-005[17] |
| Douglas DC-8-63CF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4R-EXJ |
| Cessna 208B Grand Caravan | 2 | 1 | 12 | 4R-EXP (ex- 4R-EXL) |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82(SF) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4R-EXM |
| Airbus A321-200 | 1 | 1 | 0 | LY-VEH |
| ATR 72-200 | 1 | 1 | 66 | 4R-EXN[18] |
Other business
editExpoAir has a leasing arm that wet- and dry-leases aircraft to third parties. In 2005, an F27 was dry-leased to Pakistan International Airlines, and in 2006, the airline wet-leased a Douglas DC-8-63CF to Air Mauritius. In 2007, it dry-leased another F27 aircraft to Mihin Lanka. In 2008, it wet-leased a Beech Super King Air 200 from South Africa and sub-leased the aircraft to the UN arm of WFP for operations in Sri Lanka. In August 2014 Dimonim Air (Indonesia) leased the sole ATR 72-200, (PK-HVH), belonging to Sri Lankan carrier Fits Air, for use on its internal Indonesian network. An Airbus A320 (4R-EXR) is on Wet leased to Air Arabia Sharjah. Air Arabia is using this on international routes from Sharjah-Karachi-Sharjah with Flight Codes G9548 and G9549.
References
edit- ^ Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka Archived October 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine 11 April 2005
- ^ "FitsAir expands with scheduled flights". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. 2019-03-10. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
- ^ "FitsAir crosses first 50,000 passengers mark". DailyFT. 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
- ^ a b c "FITSAIR NS24 MALDIVES – ARMENIA OPERATION CHANGES". AeroRoutes.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's FitsAir launches direct flights to Dhaka". The Business Standard. 22 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Where We Fly | FitsAir". FitsAir.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's FitsAir launches Colombo-Chennai flight". The Hindu. 21 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "FitsAir expands operations with launch of charter and scheduled flights". Daily News. 4 March 2019.
- ^ "FitsAir launches schedule flights to Jaffna". Daily News. 3 February 2020.
- ^ "FitsAir off to a flying start with inaugural flight to Dubai". Ada Derana. 26 September 2022.
- ^ "Aircraft 4R-EXA (Antonov An-8 C/N 0Zh3410) Photo by Andy Graf - VAP (Photo ID: AC862803)". www.airport-data.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "Soviet Database". www.scramble.nl. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "4R-EXC | Antonov An-12 | Expo Air | propfreak". JetPhotos. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "AN24 EX-24808 by Chris Doggett". PBase. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "4R-EXG Expo Aviation Fokker F-27-500 - PlaneLogger - Aircraft Registration & Airline Fleet Listings - PlaneLogger". www.planelogger.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "4R-EXK Expo Air Fokker F-27-500 - PlaneLogger - Aircraft Registration & Airline Fleet Listings - PlaneLogger". www.planelogger.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "Accident Ilyushin Il-18D EX-005,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "4R-EXN | ATR 72-202 | Fits Air | Dihain_SL". JetPhotos. Retrieved 2024-05-24.