On 28 March 1980, Air Lanka signed a purchase agreement for two brand new , the most advanced wide-body aircraft in the world at that time. The first Lockheed L1011-500 (4R-ULA) was accepted on 26 August 1982, at , . It was flown to Amsterdam as UL flight 566P. On 28 August, 4R-ULA "City Of Colombo" left for its inaugural flight from Amsterdam to Colombo as UL566. It reached Colombo on 29 August. This was followed by second Lockheed L1011-500, 4R-ULB, "City Of Jayawardanapura". On 8 June 1984 the airline received its first "King Vijaya" and the second joined later. The aircraft were used on flights to and a few flights to southeast Asia.