Military Wiki
Helitours
Key people Rasanga de Zoysa
Website www.helitours.lk

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 Airlines' 23. The airline dominates the RML-TRR-JAF route on a thrice-weekly basis on their Chinese-built Xian MA60 aircraft. The company slogan is Discover Serendipity.

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 Malé 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, 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 Mi-17

Helitours MI-17 preparing to land.

Helitours is set to resume its flights to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Malé in the near future using Xian MA-60 aircraft

[H] Primary Hub
Secondary hub
[F] Future destination
[T] Terminated destination
City Country IATA ICAO Airport Refs
Ampara Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka GOY VCCG Ampara Airport
Anuradhapura Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka ACJ VCCA Anuradhapura Airport
Batticaloa Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka BTC VCCB Batticaloa Airport
Colombo Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka RML VCCC Ratmalana Airport[H]
Hambantota Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka HRI VCRI Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport
Jaffna Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka JAF VCCJ Jaffna Airport
Killinochchi Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka - - Iranamadu Airport
Malé Flag of Maldives Maldives MLE VRMM Ibrahim Nasir International Airport[T]
Trincomalee Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka TRR VCCT China Bay Airport
Vavuniya Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka - VCCV Vavuniya Airport
Hambantota Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka WRZ VCCW Weerawila Airport
Koggala Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka KCT VCCK Koggala Airport

Fleet[]

Helitours fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers
(Economy)
Notes
Bell 412 2 0 10
Bell 212 2 0 10
Bell 206 JetRanger 2 0 4
Harbin Y-12 4 0 17
Mil Mi-17 3 0 24
Xian MA60 2[1] 0 47
Antonov AN-32 1 0 45
Total 16 0

Fleet history[]

Helitours Retired Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Bell 206 - -
Convair 440 1973 1980
De Havilland DH.104 Dove - -
Douglas DC-3 - -

Notes[]

References[]

  1. "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". p. 32. 

External links[]

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The original article can be found at Helitours and the edit history here.