Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, O.L. Ameer Ajwad, has inaugurated a relocated SriLankan Airlines office in Riyadh, the national carrier’s commercial base in a market that is home to one of the largest Sri Lankan expatriate workforces (Daily FT; Colombo Gazette).
The ambassador was joined at the opening by SriLankan Airlines Head of Commercial Dimuthu Tennakoon and by Saeed AlFraih, Vice President of Almosafer Travel, which acts as the airline’s General Sales Agent in the Kingdom.
Ajwad said the office represented an opportunity to strengthen people-to-people connectivity, tourism and business links between the two countries, and that the Almosafer partnership offered a route to promoting Sri Lanka as a destination in the Saudi market. The office carries what both filings describe as enhanced infrastructure and facilities for customers, trade partners and staff. The Embassy in Riyadh said it would continue to support the airline’s operations in the Kingdom.
The route it serves is currently suspended
The opening lands awkwardly against events on the ground. SriLankan has kept its Riyadh flights grounded as a safety measure after attacks on two Saudi airports, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh itself. Flights UL265 and UL266 were cancelled and the airline has not said when it expects to resume.
Neither filing on the office opening mentions the suspension. The ceremony appears to have taken place before it: the opening was first reported on 4 October, four days ahead of the Daily FT’s account and five ahead of the Colombo Gazette’s.
Ajwad has been active on the commercial and diplomatic track in the Kingdom, having met Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister for public diplomacy in late September.
Not reported
Both verified filings reproduce the same Sri Lankan Embassy statement in near-identical wording, so the two accounts are not independent reporting. Neither dates the ceremony, gives the office’s address or its previous location, says what the relocation cost, or states how many staff it employs. Neither Tennakoon nor AlFraih is quoted, and no SriLankan Airlines corporate statement accompanies the release.
