Sri Lankan Airlines has slashed flights to India from 100 a week to 51, as part of a cost-cutting strategy and re-aligning of services to conserve cash and maximise yields, the carrier’s CEO Manoj Gunawardena said recently. Cochin, Calicut, Coimbatore and Hyderabad – which primarily carried traffic between the Middle East and the the Far East – were dropped from the carrier’s network while Indian destinations generating traffic to and from Sri Lanka have been maintained. Competition on Indian routes has become “cut throat”, Gunawardena added.