On 1st September, 1979 exactly forty years ago, the first flight of SriLankan Airlines was made, the aircraft rising gracefully from Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport to wing its way to Bangkok. It was the modest start of the National Carrier’s fourty years as the mainstay of air travel and air cargo transportation for the island nation’s economy.
Now, SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka is a global award winning airline with a solid reputation for service that carries millions of passengers each year with a global route network of 109 destinations in 48 countries. It is strongly established as one of the leading airlines in the Indian Ocean region, being the largest carrier to both Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and the largest overseas airline in India.
The Group CEO of SriLankan Airlines, Vipula Gunatilleka said: “Our objective is to become the most customer-centric airline in Asia, both in the air and on the ground, building on our four decades of excellence in customer service for which we have won numerous international accolades with our emphasis on safety, punctuality and service.”
A member of the prestigious oneworld global airline partnership, the national carrier also connects travelers to over 1,000 cities in 160 countries through its oneworld partner airlines. Travelers get to take pleasure in SriLankan’s all-Airbus fleet of modern aircraft with their latest on-board comforts such as flatbeds in Business Class and sophisticated in-flight entertainment that complement its world class service. With SriLankan being continually named one of the most punctual airlines in the world, they also get to enjoy on-time departure and arrival, a rarity in air travel.
SriLankan Catering, its fully owned subsidiary has won several international awards for its in-flight catering skill that serves all airlines at BIA, and recently announced the launch of an LKR 250 million project for a sophisticated new flight kitchen which would increase its production capacity to 40,000 meals per day.
Throughout much of its history, the National Carrier valiantly shouldered the additional duty of giving smooth air services during the country’s many crises ranging from the civil war to the 2004 tsunami, with the latest emergency being the Easter Sunday attacks.
In particular it has been focused on the struggling tourism industry which benefits hugely from the airline’s global marketing efforts in promoting leisure and business travel to the island.
The airline has now embarked upon a new Business Plan that is meant for turning around the company to profitability in the shortest possible time.
Gunatilleka further added: “Our staff has been our biggest strength and we look to them to ring in many changes to help SriLankan evolve. Next year, new destinations such as Ahmedabad, Calicut, Katmandu, Saigon and Sydney will be added and several code-share agreements have been finalized with carriers from Africa, Middle East and the Far East to bridge the gaps in our network. What do we do to reduce carbon emissions and use of plastic on board? We are implementing many cost saving initiatives including fuel saving measures for our fleet. At the same time, the impact of global terrorism, trade tensions and climate change must be addressed.”
Source :SriLankan Airlines
