Sri Lanka launched its second international airline here Sunday with the inaugural test flight of the new airline scheduled for late in the evening.

Mihin Air, a whollly government-owned budget airline, is to make its first flight to the south Indian city of Trivandrum with 58 guest passengers and crew, an official for the Bandaranaike International Airport said.

A Fokker-27 type smaller aircraft is to be used for the new airline's first flight which had been originally scheduled to take wing at 11:00 a.m. local time (0530 GMT).

The flight was later re-scheduled due to "operational reasons", airport officials said.

Mihin Air aims to tap the short distance Indian market and lucrative Middle Eastern sector, officials said. A large number of Sri Lankan expatriates work in the Middle East. With its low cost of flying, it aims to present itself as a viable option for the locals travelling there.

SriLankan Airlines, the island's international carrier launched in 1979, is currently managed by Emirates Airlines despite the government of Sri Lanka owning 50 percent of its shares.

Source: Xinhua