New Delhi, July 31 - Sri Lanka's flagship carrier Sri Lankan Airlines will soon start floatplane services to the north of the island country, an area where a 25-year ethnic conflict came to an end two months ago following the defeat of the Tamil tigers.

Floatplane is a seaplane equipped with floats for landing on and taking off from water.

'Now as we have been able to bring peace in the northeastern region, we would launch float-plane services which would not only provide air connectivity to these places but also allow tourists to have a look at some of the island's most scenic beaches,' Amith Sumanapala, general manager of the carrier, told IANS here.

There are only two domestic airports in Sri Lanka, besides the Colombo international airport.

The airline, which mainly flies abroad -- to 37 destinations including seven in India -- hopes to reach a break-even this fiscal though it suffered a Rs.6 billion (Sri Lankan currency) loss last fiscal.

'We have not performed well so far this year, but we expect to reach a break-even by this fiscal-end,' Sumanapala said on the sidelines of an event here.