FitsAir

FITS Aviation (Pvt) Limited, DBA FitsAir (formerly known as ExpoAir), is a Sri Lankan airline. It operates scheduled passenger service within Sri Lanka, as well as international cargo flights to several cities in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa and also operates charter flights to India as well. The company slogan is Your Friend in the Skies.

FitsAir
IATA ICAO Callsign
8D EXV EXPOAVIA
Founded1997 (1997) (as Expo Aviation)
Hubs
Focus cities
Fleet size5
Destinations13
HeadquartersColombo, Sri Lanka
Key peopleShafik Kassim (Managing Director) Omar Kayaam (CEO)
Websitewww.fitsair.com

ExpoAir was the first airline in Sri Lanka to be certified under the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) annex requirements, as well as being the first domestic airline to be certified by the Department of Civil Aviation to commence flights to Jaffna.

History

Expo Air's DC-8 at Mauritius. (2006)

Expo Aviation was established in 1997, with operations commencing in 1998 using 2 Antonov An-8 aircraft, which were later replaced by An-12s.

In 2001, Expo Aviation started domestic operations to Jaffna using Ilyushin Il-18 and Antonov An-26 aircraft. Soon after this, the airline was renamed ExpoAir.

The next year, in 2002, the airline leased 3 Fokker F27 aircraft from Oman Air. An additional IL-18 started operating in 2003, and ExpoAir launched cabin crew training in 2004.

In 2005, Expo Air applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) to operate international air cargo services to Malé, Mumbai, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Vizag, Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Kathmandu, Chittagong, Dhaka, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat, Jeddah, Beirut, and Cairo, as well as various cities in Australia, Africa, and Europe, with the short-haul routes utilizing the Airbus A320 and long-haul routes utilizing the Airbus A330 and Airbus A340 models.[1] In 2006, ExpoAir added a Douglas DC-8 to its fleet and sold a Fokker 27.

Starting in January 2012, Expo Air relaunched its scheduled passenger flights from Ratmalana Airport to Jaffna Airport with a brand-new Cessna 208 Caravan. The aircraft has 12 seats and passengers are able to reach Jaffna in less than 1 hour.

In 2019, the airline expanded its domestic operations by introducing scheduled flights from Colombo to Balticaloa.[2]

Scheduled Domestic operations to Jaffna recommenced in February 2020 with 3 flight weekly operated on their ATR 72-200.

In November 2020, the airline leased a former Thomas Cook Airbus A321 modified to carry cargo to operate nonstop flights to Dubai.

Destinations

Expo flies to the following services to scheduled domestic and international destinations:

[H]Hub
[F]Future destination
^Passenger + Cargo
[C]Freighter aircraft only
[T]Terminated destination
City Country IATA ICAO Airport Refs
Abu Dhabi United Arab EmiratesDHFOMAMAl Dhafra Air Base[C]
Ampara Sri LankaADPVCCGAmpara Airport
Anuradhapura Sri LankaACJVCCAAnuradhapura Airport
Baghdad IraqBGWORBIBaghdad International Airport[C]
Bagram AfghanistanOAIOAIXBagram Air Base[C]
Balad IraqORBDJoint Base Balad[C]
Bangalore IndiaBLRVOBLBengaluru International Airport[C]
Bangkok ThailandBKKVTBSSuvarnabhumi Airport[T]
Batticaloa Sri LankaBTCVCCBBatticaloa Airport
Beirut LebanonBEYOLBABeirut Rafic Hariri International Airport[T]
Cairo EgyptCAIHECACairo International Airport[T]
Chennai IndiaMAAVOMMChennai International Airport[F]
Chittagong BangladeshCGPVGEGShah Amanat International Airport[T]
Coimbatore IndiaCJBVOCBCoimbatore International Airport[T]
Colombo Sri LankaCMBVCBIBandaranaike International Airport[H]
Colombo Sri LankaRMLVCCCRatmalana Airport[H]
Dhaka BangladeshDACVGHSShahjalal International Airport[T]
Dubai United Arab EmiratesDXBOMDBDubai International Airport[C]
Erbil IraqEBLORERErbil International Airport[C]
Gan Island MaldivesGANVRMGGan International Airport[C]
Hambantota Sri LankaHRIVCRIMattala Rajapaksa International Airport
Herat AfghanistanHEAOAHRHerat International Airport[C]
Hingurakgoda Sri LankaHingurakgoda Airport
Hyderabad IndiaHYDVOHSRajiv Gandhi International Airport[T]
Islamabad PakistanISBOPRNBenazir Bhutto International Airport[T]
Jaffna Sri LankaJAFVCCJJaffna International Airport
Jakarta IndonesiaCGKWIIISoekarno–Hatta International Airport[T]|
Jalalabad AfghanistanJAAOAJLJalalabad Airport[C]
Jeddah Saudi ArabiaJEDOEJNKing Abdulaziz International Airport[T]
Kabul AfghanistanKBLOAKBKabul International Airport[C]
Kalutara Sri LankaVCCNKatukurunda Airport
Kandahar AfghanistanKDHOAKNKandahar International Airport[C]
Koggala Sri LankaKCTVCCKKoggala Airport
Kuala Lumpur MalaysiaKULWMKKKuala Lumpur International Airport[T]
Lahore PakistanLHEOPLAAllama Iqbal International Airport[C]
Lashkar Gah AfghanistanOAZOAZICamp Bastion[C]
Malé MaldivesMLEVRMMVelana International Airport[C]
Manila PhilippinesMNLRPLLNinoy Aquino International Airport[T]
Mumbai IndiaBOMVABBChhatrapati Shivaji International Airport[C]
Muscat OmanMCTOOMSMuscat International Airport[T]
Sharana AfghanistanOASASharana Airstrip[C]
Sharjah United Arab EmiratesSHJOMSJSharjah International Airport[T]
Sigiriya Sri LankaSigiriya Airport
Singapore SingaporeSINWSSSChangi Airport[T]
Sulaymaniyah IraqISUORSUSulaimaniyah International Airport[C]
Tarin Kowt AfghanistanTIIOATNTarin Kowt Airport[C]
Thiruvananthapuram IndiaTRVVOTVTrivandrum International Airport[C]
Thumrait OmanTTHOOTHRAFO Thumrait[C]
Tiruchirappalli IndiaTRZVOTRTiruchirappalli Airport[T]
Trincomalee Sri LankaTRRVCCTChina Bay Airport
Vavuniya Sri LankaVavuniya Airport
Visakhapatnam IndiaVTZVOVZVisakhapatnam Airport^
Weerawila Sri LankaWRZVCCWWeerawila Airport

Fleet

In January 2021, the FitsAir fleet includes the following aircraft:[3]

FitsAir
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers
(Economy)
Remarks
Airbus A321-200 Freighter 1 0 0 On wet lease from Avion Express[4]
Airbus A321-200 P2F 0 2 0 Delivery from 2021
ATR 72-200 1 - 70 4R-EXN
Cessna Grand Caravan/EX 2 - 12
Cessna 152 2 - 0
Total 6 2

Fleet history

FitsAir Mainline Historical Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Passengers Notes
Antonov An-26 - -
Fokker F27 3 0 0 4R-EXF[5]

4R-EXG[6]

4R-EXK[7]

Ilyushin IL-18 1 0 0 4R-EXD (Cargo)
Douglas DC-8-63CF 1 0 0 4R-EXJ
Cessna Grand Caravan/EX 2 0 12 4R-EXL
ATR 42-500 1 0 40

Other Business

ExpoAir has a leasing arm that wet- and dry-leases aircraft to third parties. In 2005, an F27 was dry-leased to Pakistan International Airlines, and in 2006, the airline wet-leased a Douglas DC-8-63CF to Air Mauritius. In 2007, it dry-leased another F27 aircraft to Mihin Lanka. In 2008, it wet-leased a Beech Super King Air 200 from South Africa and sub-leased the aircraft to the UN arm of WFP for operations in Sri Lanka. In August 2014 Dimonim Air (Indonesia) leased the sole ATR 72-200, (PK-HVH), belonging to Sri Lankan carrier Fits Air, for use on its internal Indonesian network.

References

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