Direct Melbourne-Colombo flights to start

Sri Lankan Airlines has announced it will operate a daily non-stop service out of Melbourne Airport to Colombo from October 29.

Melbourne Airport Chief of Aviation Simon Gandy said in a statement the new service on A330-330 aircraft would take Victorians directly to Sri Lanka's largest city in just over 10 hours.

He said the new route would also allow more Sri Lankans to visit family and friends in Victoria, which according to 2011 census data is home to around 50 per cent of Australia's Sri Lankan population.