FITS Aviation (Pvt) Limited,
DBA FitsAir (formerly known as ExpoAir), is a
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n
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...''
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
Expo Aviation was established in 1997, with operations commencing in 1998 using 2
Antonov An-8 aircraft, which were later replaced by
An-12
The Antonov An-12 (Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than thr ...
s.
In 2001, Expo Aviation started domestic operations to
Jaffna using
Ilyushin Il-18
The Ilyushin Il-18 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-18; NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that first flew in 1957 and became one of the best known and most durable Soviet aircraft of its era. The Il-18 was one of the world ...
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
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
,
Dhaka,
Bangkok,
Kuala Lumpur,
Singapore,
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
,
Manila,
Dubai,
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
,
Sharjah,
Muscat,
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
,
Beirut, and
Cairo, as well as various cities in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Africa, and
Europe, with the short-haul routes utilizing the
Airbus A320 and long-haul routes utilizing the
Airbus A330 and
Airbus A340 models. In 2006, ExpoAir added a
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
DC-8 to its fleet and sold a
Fokker 27
The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...
.
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 Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna.
The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982.
The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...
. 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 Balticaloa.
Scheduled Domestic operations to Jaffna recommenced in February 2020 with 3 flight 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.
Destinations
Expo flies to the following services to scheduled domestic and international destinations:
Fleet
In June 2021, the FitsAir fleet includes the following aircraft:
Fleet history
Other Business
ExpoAir 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
The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company.
After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Jul ...
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
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketing, marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropp ...
from
South Africa and sub-leased the aircraft to the
UN arm of
WFP for operations in Sri Lanka.
In August 2014
Dimonim Air
Dimonim Air is a national airline in Indonesia, with services that are "chartered airlines." It has an air base at Sentani International Airport, and its head office is on Jl. Cidurian No.6 Cikini, Central Jakarta.
History
The company began ...
(Indonesia) leased the sole
ATR 72-200
The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed by ...
, (PK-HVH), belonging to Sri Lankan carrier Fits Air, for use on its internal Indonesian network.
External links
FitsAir
References
{{Airlines of Sri Lanka
Airlines of Sri Lanka
Airlines established in 1997
Cargo airlines
Sri Lankan companies established in 1997