Helitours is a domestic airline in

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 ...

operated by the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

with aircraft not required for military use. It is currently the second-largest

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

in Sri Lanka with a fleet of 16 aircraft behind

Sri Lankan Airlines SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched ...

' 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 Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

, 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 is set to resume its flights to

Velana International Airport Velana International Airport (VIA) (Dhivehi: ) is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, nearby the capital island Malé. The airport is well connected with major airports ar ...

in Malé in the near future using

Xian MA-60 The Xian MA60 (新舟60, ''Xīnzhōu liùshí'', "Modern Ark 60") is a turboprop-powered airliner produced by China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The MA60 is a stretched versio ...

aircraft

Fleet

Fleet history

Notes

References

External links

Helitours
Airlines of Sri Lanka Airlines established in 1972 Military airlines Sri Lanka Air Force Sri Lankan companies established in 1972 {{SriLanka-transport-stub