Sri Lanka's aviation office reports 10 pct increase in flight cancellations

India is one of the biggest sources of foreign visitors.

SriLankan Airlines' chief executive Vipula Gunatilleka said on Monday that the carrier had a 10 per cent increase in cancellations last week and expects that number to go up.

He was speaking to Reuters in Dubai at a travel conference in reference to the April 21 attacks on hotels and churches that killed more than 250 people. The terror attacks have caused many travellers to change their plans.

Earlier major Indian Airlines Indigo and Air India had put special facilitation for no cancellation charges on flights to Sri Lanka in wake of the deadly blast on Easter Sunday which killed around 300 people. IndiGo had further requested, passengers going to India to reach the Colombo airport well in advance. Other travel tour operators like Thomas Cook and SOTC had assured the safety of all their customers in Sri Lanka.

As per reports, one of the eight Easter Sunday bombers had initially planned to detonate his device at the Ports of Call restaurant at Taj Samudra in Colombo, but the bomb failed to go off at the property.