Nov 07, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government is planning to implement a program to expand the country's national carrier, SriLankan Airlines in the next six years, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne has said.

According to the Minister, the government plans to increase the airline's fleet to 30 aircraft and will purchase five new aircraft within the next six months.

The airline currently has 21 Airbus A320, A330 and A340 aircraft, and its network extends to 58 destinations in 33 countries in Europe, North America, Canada, Australia, Far East, Middle East and the Indian Sub-Continent. The carrier operates 30 flights daily and directly serves 22 countries.

As Sri Lanka has become a hot new destination for the world traveller the government has realized the need to develop domestic air travel.

Responding to the expanding tourism industry, the government is also implementing a programme to develop 10 internal airports at a cost of 750 million rupees, the Minister has revealed.

Accordingly, domestic airports will be constructed in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Puttalam.