FitsAir

Sri Lankan airline From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FITS Aviation (Pvt) Limited, DBA FitsAir (formerly known as ExpoAir), is a Sri Lankan low-cost airline. It operates scheduled passenger services within Sri Lanka, as well as international flights to several cities in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa, and also operates charter flights to India. The company slogan is Friend In The Skies. FitsAir is a subsidiary of Aberdeen Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, a diversified conglomerate headquartered in Sri Lanka.

Founded1997; 29 years ago (1997) (as Expo Aviation)
Fleet size3
Quick facts IATA, ICAO ...
FitsAir
FitsAir logo
FitsAir Airbus A320 aircraft at Colombo Airport
IATA ICAO Call sign
8D EXV EXPOAVIA
Founded1997; 29 years ago (1997) (as Expo Aviation)
Hubs
Focus cities
Fleet size3
Destinations5
Parent companyAberdeen Holdings
HeadquartersColombo, Sri Lanka
Websitewww.fitsair.com
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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

Former logo of FitsAir
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, medium-haul routes utilizing the Airbus A330, and long-haul routes utilizing the 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 Batticaloa.[2]

Scheduled domestic operations to Jaffna resumed in February 2020 with three flights 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.

In 2021, the airline got three A320-200 aircraft, which are dry-leased for passenger operations. On 5 October 2022, FitsAir ceremonially started its very-first scheduled, commercial passenger flights, launching Colombo (CMB) to Dubai (DXB). Later, this service was launched as a daily service due to higher demand from 26 March 2023. On 20 February 2023, airline launched Colombo (CMB) to Chennai (MAA) service. In May 2023, the airline crossed the 50,000 passenger mark for the first time since their scheduled passenger service started in October 2022.[3] From 20 January 2026, airline will fly Colombo (CMB) to Lahore (LHE) route.

Destinations

Fleet

As of August 2025, FitsAir operates the following aircraft:[16]

More information Aircraft, In service ...
FitsAir fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y Total
Airbus A320-200 3 8 156 164 4R-EXQ, 4R-EXR, 4R-EXS
Total 3
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Historical fleet

Expo Air Antonov An-12B (4R-EXC)
Expo Air Ilyushin Il-18 (4R-EXD)
More information Aircraft, Introduced ...
FitsAir mainline historical fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Passengers Notes
Antonov An-8 3 3 4R-EXA,[17] 4R-EXB, 3C-ZZO[18]
Antonov An-12B 1 1 0 4R-EXC[citation needed]
Antonov An-24RV 1 1 EX-24808[19]
Fokker F27 3 3 52 4R-EXG,[citation needed] 4R-EXH, 4R-EXK (ex- 4R-MRA, 4R-EXF)[citation needed]
Ilyushin Il-18 3 3 0 4R-EXD, UR-CFR, EX-005[20]
Douglas DC-8-63CF 1 1 0 4R-EXJ
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan 2 2 12 4R-EXP (ex- 4R-EXL), 4R-EXO
McDonnell Douglas MD-82(SF) 1 1 0 4R-EXM
Airbus A321-200 1 1 0 LY-VEH
ATR 72-200 1 1 66 4R-EXN[citation needed]
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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. An Airbus A320 (4R-EXR) is on wet lease to Air Arabia Sharjah. Air Arabia is using this on international routes from Sharjah-Karachi-Sharjah with Flight Codes G9548 and G9549.

References

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