Air Ceylon
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| Founded | 1947 Colombo, Ceylon |
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| Ceased operations | 1979 | ||||||
| Hubs |
Ratmalana Airport (1947-1967) Bandaranaike International Airport (1967-1979) |
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| Fleet size | 2 (in 1979) | ||||||
| Destinations | 24 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Colombo, Ceylon | ||||||
Air Ceylon was founded in 1947 as the flag carrier airline of Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until 1972). The airline discontinued flights to Europe in early 1978 and finally ceased all local services on 31 August 1979, when it was replaced by Air Lanka.
Air Ceylon was established in 1947 as state-owned flag carrier airline, initially operating scheduled international flights to Madras (India) via Jaffna (Ceylon) and Trichinopoly with two Douglas C-47 Dakota (DC-3) aircraft. Services to London with two Douglas DC-4s leased from Australian National Airways (ANA) commenced in summer 1949, after ANA acquired a 49 percent stake in Air Ceylon earlier that year. Flights to Sydney in a co-operation with ANA were started on 20 July 1950 via Singapore and Darwin.
Air Ceylon discontinued all long-haul fights and gave up its partnership with ANA in September 1953 after BOAC had introduced de Havilland Comet between London and Colombo. The 49 percent stake held by ANA was taken over by KLM in 1955.
Flights to London were commenced again on 21 February 1956 using a Lockheed 749A Constellation leased from KLM. The aircraft was replaced by a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation in 1958, followed by a KLM Lockheed L-188 Electra that was leased until the partnership with KLM ended in November 1961. A Comet from BOAC allowing the re-launch of flights to London in April 1962. The aircraft was replaced by a leased Vickers VC10 in November 1965.
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Wikipedia