SINGAPORE (Dec 14): SilkAir, Singapore Airlines’ regional wing, will fly to Sri Lanka’s commercial capital of Colombo from April 2017, increasing its network to 53 destinations in 15 countries.

Under the new route, SilkAir will operate three flights per week — on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — and replace Singapore Airlines’ SQ466 and SQ467 service. Singapore Airlines will continue to operate its daily night flight SQ468 and return flight SQ469.

The new MI428/MI427 service will be operated with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which will offer both Business Class and Economy Class cabins.

In a release on Wednesday, SIA Group said that the addition of the Singapore-Colombo route to SilkAir’s network helps to improve the utilisation of its planes and is a better match of its capacity to the current air travel demand.

Shares in SIA are trading 3 cents higher at S$9.83.