Srilankan Cargo's first commercial flight from Colombo recently touched down at the King Abdulaziz International Airport, marking the beginning of a twice-weekly service to Jeddah.

The Airbus A340 offers 13,500 kilograms, or 96 cubic metres of cargo capacity to Jeddah on Tuesdays and Fridays, according to Dubai's AME Info news web site.

"This puts us in a unique position in operating to the three key cities in the Kingdom from our Colombo hub, giving greater access to our partners in South Asia and the Far East," said SriLankan Cargo head Nalin Rodrigo.

Key exports to Saudi Arabia include perishable commodities from Asia and construction related material from the Far East and Australia.

SriLankan Cargo's warehousing and storage facilities coupled with one of the regions most experienced cargo teams, is fully geared to handle time-critical perishable cargo.

The Middle East is an integral component in SriLankan Cargo's network, offering its partners a primary link into the Indian subcontinent with nearly 100 flights a week to 10 destinations in India.

The air carrier recently increased frequencies into India, including the launch of a double daily service to Mumbai and a third weekly service to Goa.

"We are also studying the potential of adding Ahmedabad and Coimbatore to our scheduled services. We need to plan for further growth, and as a preferred cargo carrier into South Asia, SriLankan Cargo is committed to give customers the best connections between the Middle East and Asia," Mr Rodrigo said.