Colombo is back!
 

Was doing a dummy booking on expedia ex-CMB, and sure enough there it was. Someone with more advanced tools can tell us of the exact start date and frequency, but on Sept. 17 CX700 departs CMB at 1:45am. This is good news.

Looks like it starts back up on 31-Mar-08, via BKK some days and SIN the others. Interesting.

Glad to see it back. I know CMB does really well with cargo. Passenger wise, the three times that I've been on it, loads may have been around 40%. Front of the cabin, even lower.

This is good news for us fans of DONEx's... but it seems oneworld has removed sri lanka from its price list here.

Does anyone know how to find out the price of a DONE4 ex-CMB?

And do CX's 773s on that route have crummy old-style J class seats...?

Wow! Great news! ^

Looks like it starts with the summer schedule, 31-Mar-08. Daily service via BKK/SIN as before. Business is back to normal in CMB. :cool:

CMB has always been served by regional 773s. :( It goes via BKK/SIN, so the flying time is only 3-4 hours.

Did I just get really luck with award availability?
 

oops. meant to start a new thread.

Probably because of their massive cargo capacity.

CX doesn't seem to be publishing a DONE4 fare yet, but strangely BA is. It's USD$5476.

BA fares (USD):

DONE 3/4/5/6: 4803/5476/6297/7171
AONE 3/4/5/6: 8197/9077/10235/11564

Are there any published CX fares out of CMB currently?

Is CMB the cheapest destination to start a DONE4 now? The prices ex NRT are not that attractive anymore.

It would appear so, but not by much. Current equivalent for MRU is:

DONE4/5/6: US$5581/6308/7348, although ticketing costs ex-MRU might raise the true cost somewhat. (No xONE3 ex-MRU, of course.)

MRU is still the AONE* leader by far:

AONE4/5/6: US$6516/7452/8492

(MUR-USD = 0.03466)

Actually, following the recent weakness of the ZAR, South Africa beats MRU on DONE* fares and it's within a whisker for AONE4 (after allowing for the issuing fee in MRU).

My calculations put an AONE4 from south africa at $8,900ish -- well over $2k more than from MRU.

I know this has been pored over before but I can't find it in a search (coz we still can't search for three-letter terms :mad:)... how much is the MRU issuing fee?

P.S. One more question: does anyone know what happens if we issue an xONEx ex-CMB and then CX pulls out again? If you experienced this last time, lemme know -- did they offer a refund, or could you reroute to a different asian origin for the same price...?

the ba mru surcharge is us$300 converted to mru rupees which you sign for on a separate charge.

i had hkg-bkk-cmb segments remaining on cx in biz class last time they pulled out of cmb. cx was exceptionally accomodating and apologetic. they offered me my choice of carriers and routings and dates--basically whatever i wanted.

That would be the AONE5 price. The AONE4 price is ZAR51990 or roughly USD7000.

Ah yes, my mistake. For african departures I instinctively look at xONE5s coz it adds a continent to my itinerary. I'm jealous though -- that south african AONE4 fare is excellent.

Actually is it possible to do an AONE4 from JNB?

I guess you can do JNB-HKG-JFK-LHR-JNB?? (However JNB-HKG in F Class will be seasonal)?

That's correct. You could also do JNB-SYD-JFK-LHR-JNB with year-round F on all routes.

I thought JNB-SYD is not 3 Class most of the time on QF.

It operates 5 days a week and 4 of the 5 days have F.

As this thread seems to be mostly on OW issues, I'm moving this to the OW forum.

Thanks

Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator

CMB Back online with CX
 

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_...0010d21c39____

Anyway we can get Oneworld.com to load fares?

Bear in mind, CX flights ex-CMB currently are not e-ticketable. So any issue will end up being paper.. which means you only have two options. Be in CMB in person before your ticket is issued, or issue it in Canada.

When will CX ex-CMB become e-ticketable? EK and UL have been for some time now, over a year I think. I thought that all carriers were to be by now.

That is quite interesting because SQ does do etix @ CMB.

It depends on ground handling agent. UL handles CX check in in CMB who may not have the capability to access etickets on CX. SQ used to use UL for check in in CMB, but switched to self-handling when it went with etickets.

I'm loving the etix on SQ ex-CMB. Makes everything so much easier. And I believe that you can now check-in online, which makes CMB turnarounds a piece of cake.

A little update regarding CMB. I am on my way to Colombo at the moment and we are 42 pax on the aircraft (773). I am not sure whether this is a typical load but with oil at $135 a barrel you can only afford to do this for so long.

However Sri Lanka generates loads of cargo (huge textile manufacturing centre for US retailers, plus fruit too) which might well help overall yields.

CMB flights are mostly for cargo. Airlines can make money with an empty cabin but a full cargo load. In fact, you can only have limited cabin load with a full cargo load. The flight will continue as long as there is healthy cargo load. The same applies to SQ CMB flights.@:-)

Singapore chili crabs are mostly from Sri Lanka.:p

Thanks for the info! @:-) This explains a lot. Didn't think about the cargo component. And loading in CMB actually took quite a while.
CMB is also the first airport I have seen where the duty free shops stock washing machines.

Gives a whole new relevance to the term "everything bar the kitchen sink" when talking about carry-on luggage!

Aimed at the guest worker returning home from the Gulf market, rather than mileage runners. ;)

Is that on departure also or just arrival? I can imagine the look you'd get arriving at Australia lugging a washing machine :D

I presume it's only on arrival. Have seen this many times in developing countries with very high taxes - though less so in the last few years.

It is for arrival only. :p Arrival and departure are segregated and have different duty-free stores. Me guess not too much demand for washing machines prior to departure from CMB. :D:p

Yeah, I was very tempted to buy a washing machine upon arrival, then round to the departure area with it and see whether I can check it in. But then I got distracted b(u)y something else.

On a serious note, I found CMB to be a very organized and efficient airport. Positively surprised.

Maybe by the national anthem that plays every 30 minutes or so during which Sri Lankas stop working/moving to pay tribute to it. :D