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Lionair was an airline with its head office in the Asian Aviation Centre in Sri Lanka on the grounds of Ratmalana Airport near Colombo.[1] It was a privately owned charter operator. Its main base was Ratmalana International Airport.[2]

Lionair

IATA ICAO Callsign LN LEO Sri-Lion
Founded	1993
Commenced operations	1994
Ceased operations	2006
Hubs	Bandaranaike International Airport Ratmalana Airport
Fleet size	6
Destinations	10
Headquarters	Ratmalana, Sri Lanka
Key people	Chandran Rutnam, founder and chairman

History

The airline was established in October 1993. The airline started its operations on 24 October 1994. Initially it was owned by Lionvert Inc USA (51%), a United States-based investors group and by Sri Lankan investors (49%). Lionvert sold its stake in late 1997. Lionair suspended domestic services when an Antonov An-24 aircraft went missing shortly after it took off from Jaffna in 1998, but resumed services in October 2002.[2]

Lionair had operated services between Colombo and Jaffna since October 1996, until the suspension of services in 1998. They had hoped to resume services in November 1998.[3]

In 2005 Lionair applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka to operate services to the following destinations: Athens, Chennai, Kochi, Denpasar, Dhaka, Dubai, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Malé, Melbourne, Mumbai, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram and Zürich, using Avro 748 and Airbus A320 aircraft.[4]

Terminated routes

This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2019)

Country-city	Airport code		Airport name	Notes	Refs
	IATA	ICAO
Australia
Melbourne	MEL	YMML	Melbourne Airport	Terminated
Sydney	SYD	YSSY	Sydney Airport	Terminated
Bangladesh
Dhaka	DAC	VGZR	Shahjalal International Airport	Terminated
Greece
Athens	ATH	LGAV	Athens International Airport	Terminated
India
Chennai	MAA	VOMM	Chennai International Airport	Terminated
Kochi	COK	VOCI	Cochin International Airport	Terminated
Mumbai	BOM	VABB	Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport	Terminated
Tiruchirappalli	TRZ	VOTR	Tiruchirappalli International Airport	Terminated
Trivandrum	TRV	VOTV	Trivandrum International Airport	Terminated
Indonesia
Denpasar	DPS	WADD	Ngurah Rai International Airport	Terminated
Jakarta	CGK	WIII	Soekarno–Hatta International Airport	Terminated
Italy
Rome	FCO	LIRF	Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport	Terminated
Kuwait
Kuwait City	KWI	OKBK	Kuwait International Airport	Terminated
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur	KUL	WMKK	Kuala Lumpur International Airport	Terminated
Maldives
Malé	MLE	VRMM	Ibrahim Nasir International Airport	Terminated
People's Republic of China
Guangzhou	CAN	ZGGG	Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport	Terminated
Singapore
Singapore	SIN	WSSS	Singapore Changi Airport	Terminated
Sri Lanka
colombo	CMB	VCBI	Bandaranaike International Airport	Terminated
colombo	RML	VCCC	Ratmalana Airport	Terminated
Jaffna	JAF	VCCJ	Jaffna Airport	Terminated
Switzerland
Zürich	ZRH	LSZH	Zürich Airport	Terminated
United Arab Emirates
Dubai	DXB	OMDB	Dubai International Airport	Terminated
United Kingdom
London	LHR	EGLL	London Heathrow Airport	Terminated

Fleet

This section does not cite any sources. (March 2017)

Aircraft	Fleet	Introduced	Retired
Antonov An-24	TBA	TBA	TBA
Avro 748	TBA	TBA	TBA

Accidents and incidents

• On September 29, 1998, Lionair Flight 602, operated by an Antonov An-24RV (Registered EW-46465), fell into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka under mysterious circumstances. The aircraft departed Jaffna-Palaly Air Force Base on a flight to Colombo and disappeared from radar screens just after the pilot had reported depressurization. Initial reports indicated that the plane had been shot down by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels. All seven crew and 48 passengers were killed.[3][5]

References

External links

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