Tag Archives: SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan Airlines will start operations from additional three cities in India, including Ahmedabad, to lure more Indian travellers to the island nation. Currently, it flies out of nine Indian cities, revealed Richard Nuttall, CEO, SriLankan Airlines.

SriLankan Airlines has recorded its first profitable fourth quarter (Q4) since 2006 for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2022 with a group net profit of USD 1.7 million despite pandemic challenges. SriLankan’s expansion initiative saw the launch of flights to several new destinations in the last year including Seoul; Moscow; Kathmandu and Paris. Frequencies were also gradually increased across the airline’s network in line with the recovery of the global travel industry and demand. The airline has also carried out major campaigns to boost tourism to the country including a major initiative in India, roadshows supporting new routes and most recently sponsoring the popular French annual adventure trail, Raid Amazones, in March of this year. The airline is now back to 75 per cent of the passenger revenue it made pre-pandemic in Q4 of 2019-20. Correspondingly, passenger numbers also rose to near 700,000 for the quarter. Ashok Pathirage, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines stated, “I am pleased to note that we ended 2021-22 on a high note, given our first quarterly profit in many years. The passenger demand remained strong, and revenues continued to recover from the setbacks of the pandemic during the quarter. Our annual expenditure remained within expectations. I am thankful to all our valued employees for contributing towards this achievement.” “We anticipate some headwinds in the first half of this financial year with high fuel prices and a short-term dip in demand to Sri Lanka. We have factored in these challenges and are working towards minimizing the impact with a strong business plan and a sound turnaround strategy to return to full-year profitability. Traffic is expected to recover fully by the end of the year …

Reviewing the airline’s fleet of aircraft in terms of leasing costs and operating efficiency is a key pillar within a broader cost restructuring plan embarked upon by the airline since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.  Other restructuring initiatives have thus far resulted in the airline ceasing to rely on government funding since the second quarter of 2021, and returning a profit since December 2021 – the most profitable month on record.   The initiation of the re-fleeting RFP is primarily prompted by the impending expiry of aircraft leases for over 50% of the current fleet. The airline recognizes that the current global market for aircraft leasing presents an attractive pricing environment which would maximise the cost savings which can be achieved via the timely execution of a re-fleeting strategy. The combination into a single RFP of replacement aircraft (expiring leases) with growth needs over the ensuing period, captures benefits of scale. A single procurement exercise also avails optionality in terms of selecting the optimum fleet structure in terms of operating efficiency, aircraft type and aircraft age.  All aircraft leases will be funded through the airline’s current existing cashflows, and the re-fleeting is expected to significantly reduce the airline’s cost structure going forward. The re-fleeting exercise will alongside other strategic initiatives help the airline increase its operating margins and further elevate its operating cash flows which will support the timely paying down of long-term debt to the Government of Sri Lanka and other lenders.  The promising turnaround in the airline’s financials have accrued both from cost restructuring as well as from selective growth initiatives in terms of expansion of the route network to include new destinations, and exploitation of growth …

SriLankan Airlines celebrates the undaunting spirit of women the world over by welcoming the female athletes who are participating in ‘Raid Amazones 2022 Sri Lanka,’ scheduled to take place from 13 March to 6 April 2022. Accordingly, the first batch of athletes arrived from Paris to a memorable welcome at Bandaranaike International this morning on flight UL 564, which was operated by an all-female crew led by Captain Chamika Rupasingha and Cabin Manager Anju Jayasinghe.   SriLankan announced the event at a press conference in Colombo on International Women’s Day. Further, the airline has branded an aircraft with Raid Amazones 2022 themed livery to bring Sri Lanka into the limelight as an adventure and sports tourism destination on a global scale.     SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman, Ashok Pathirage said, “SriLankan Airlines is an organization that advocates for women’s empowerment and equal opportunity. We take pride in the strides made by our female employees and have always supported the remarkable women that have become national icons. With Raid Amazones 2022, we are taking one step ahead to celebrate the strength and resilience of women in the backdrop of our home base, and hoping that it would inspire many others to follow in the trail and find their adventure in Sri Lanka. “   Raid Amazones is one of the most sought-after adventure trails in the French travel market and is held every year in an iconic tourist destination. The 20th edition of this annual sporting event features over 550 French female athletes, and will take place in the areas surrounding the Sigiriya rock fortress. The event is expected to bring over 15 million euros worth of global media visibility for Sri …

SriLankan Airlines adorns one of its aircraft with customized livery to reaffirm its status as the official airline of the much-awaited ‘Raid Amazones 2022.’ Raid Amazones 2022 is an annual sporting event in which a large number of French female athletes compete in a number of sports and activities against the backdrop of an iconic tourist site. Every year, the event highlights an attractive tourist destination by highlighting inherent elements such as its ecological beauty, residents’ way of life, and culture, which are publicly displayed to the world through worldwide media following the athletes on their tour. The event’s 20th edition will take place in the areas surrounding the iconic Sigiriya rock fortress, which are rich in ecological beauty, cultural heritage, and authentic Sri Lankan village life. The first leg will be held from March 13 to 23, 2022, and the second leg will be held from March 27 to April 6, 2022. The event is likely to attract over 550 participants, including athletes and officials.

Ashok Pathirage, Chairman, SriLankan Airlines, has said that as Sri Lanka plans to reopen its borders, SriLankan Airlines, is expected to play a pivotal role in the country’s economic recovery. In addition, they will be focused on their expansion goals for 2020, with plans to add destinations such as Sydney, Incheon and Chengdu to its network in the coming months. “However, the Airline’s primary focus will be reconnecting with and consolidating its position in key markets such as India, China, the United Kingdom and other major destinations,” said Pathirage.

V Ravindran, Regional Manager-India & Bangladesh, SriLankan Airlines, has revealed that they have plans to add Ahmedabad and Calicut to their list of destinations in India. Ravindran revealed, “We are focusing on M!CE from India. We also have some new destinations to be added as per the business plan, but subject to aircraft procurement. Ahmedabad and Calicut are going to be the latest Indian destinations to be connected via SriLankan. With that, we are going to fly to 11 destinations in India, and we will start a minimum of 4 flights a week. We also have plans to operate to Sydney. We are already flying to Melbourne 4 daily flights and we have plans to come start operations to Sydney as well. This will be a good product for the Indian leisure market specifically to Australia.”

SriLankan Airlines has completed 25 years of its operations to Delhi. Speaking at the press conference to announce the celebrations,  , Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Manager- Northern India, SriLankan Airlines, said, “We started operations way back in 1979 to start with Chennai and Mumbai. Delhi was the fifth destination that we started operating in 1993. We started with two flights a week and now we have expanded to two flights a day. In fact, Delhi has become one of the highest revenue generating areas for SriLankan Airlines network. Indian market is doing very well and it is the highest revenue generating and tourism generating market for us. We are expecting about 4.5 lakhs of arrivals this year with the growth of 15 per cent, which is very good and the growth has also been very encouraging.” Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC Travel Group, GSA- SriLankan Airlines, said, “It is a historical day for SriLankan Airlines because we complete 25 years and we are happy that we had a very successful inning as a GSA for the airline.”

In line with major airlines reducing agents’ commission on airline ticket bookings, SriLankan Airlines too has followed suit. According to a statement released by the airline, from April 1, 2018, SriLankan Airlines will reduce its commission to 2 per cent from the earlier 5 per cent applicable to any/all tickets issued in India and move given to IATA agents. All tickets issued prior to April 1, 2018 will be eligible to avail 5 per cent commission. When asked about the details on the same, Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Manager—Northern India, SriLankan Airlines said, “We are awaiting further clarification from the Head Office. The trade partners will be kept abreast about any further development in this announcement.”  

With a focus on the Indian market, SriLankan Airlines intends to increase its frequencies to 13 flights per week to Delhi and 14 flights a week to Mumbai. According to Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Country Manager, SriLankan Airlines, “We are keen on increasing the destinations and flight frequencies in India as the demand is constantly on the rise. With the new development ventures, we anticipate significant passenger numbers from our key contributors to inbound tourism traffic that includes India, China, Europe, Australia and the Maldives.” India has been a vital partner in SriLankan Airlines’ route network from the early days since it is Sri Lanka’s number one source of inbound tourist traffic. Today, the airline directly operates to 14 Indian destinations with a total of 135 flights a week. Weerasinghe adds, “The Indian government authorities and related state institutions have always been a firm supporter to all SriLankan Airlines and Sri Lanka Tourism projects.”