I'm not so sure this would actually amount to 'intruding on their turf' ... It's not like UL would be able to stop foreign airlines from flying into CMB. The country needs all the traffic it can get, especially if it's coming from rich American tourists.

Look, they were sloppy enough to let half of the nation's fleet be destroyed in an overnight attack on the airport (almost annihilating the local tourism industry), and apparently they were also corrupted enough to armwrestle EK back out of UL... shouldn't be too much of a problem for 9W to buy it's way in.

Besides what's the Lankan FAA-IASA rating?? Last time I checked they didn't even have any, whereas India is Category I (believe it or not).

I think the US and the FAA and the USTDA and the ACP (and what not) would all be very happy to see the Indian air services industry spread its wings into Sri Lanka. For sure, it would further increase safety and security risks quite a bit (but not much more than what they are having to deal with in India), yet at the same time it would puncture another hole in China's so-called string-of-pearls strategy in the region, and we all know how the US would be happy about that. Makes you wonder why the FAA has been dragging its feet for so long, treating Sri Lanka's IASA application on the same footing as Iraq's...

I think it's simple: if 9W want to do this route, they will able to do it. It might actually be benificial for most of the parties involved, bar China. I believe Sri Lanka had proposed to the Chinese to use CMB as a technical stop / scissor hub for some of it's flights to Africa and even further afield, but apparently the Chinese turned down the offer, rather (and probobaly rightfully so) sending some of their planes through places like DXB.

Anyway, it's only one flight from CMB to BRU ... it's not like it's the end of the world.

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