Spectrum Air Basler BT-67 aircraft bound for South Africa and not India.

Colombo (News 1st): The special purpose aircraft which arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport, left to the Maldives this morning (July 9). However, State Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation yesterday (July 8) said the aircraft is scheduled to reach India. This special aircraft, The Basler BT-67 aircraft from Spectrum Air, ZS-ASN, is fitted with one of the advanced fixed-wing airborne systems capable of ground surveillance and has the ability to simultaneously map shallow and deep features up to 1000m. Speaking to News 1st, State Minister of Transport Ashok Abeysinghe yesterday noted that this is a small aircraft that travels from Indonesia to Mumbai. He added that while travelling to Mumbai, it temporarily landed at the Katunayaka airport, which is a normal thing. He said the aircraft will leave on the 9th. Although the State Minister expressed those views, the aircraft left to Maldives this morning. The aircraft is currently at the Maldives Airport. Issuing a statement the Civil Aviation Authority said although the operator had initially planned to fly to Mumbai, its revised itinerary is to operate the aircraft to Lanseria in South Africa via Male, Seychelles, Pemba, and Beira without any change in the date of departure from Colombo.