Industry extols SriLankan Airlines’ strategy and growth

SriLankan Airlines has been named 2004 ‘Airline Turnaround of the Year,’ heralding the efforts of both management and staff in repositioning the carrier following a terrorist attack on Katunayake Airport in Colombo in 2001 when it lost half its fleet.

The airline is no stranger to winning awards.  It has garnered a string of international aviation awards including Best Airline in Central Asia from UK’s Skytrax Research for four years in a row, (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), underlining its new reputation as a world-class carrier.

In 2003, SriLankan was voted as having the friendliest cabin crew by Skytrax, and also won the award for Best In-flight Entertainment (for a fleet size of 20 or less) at the annual World Airline Entertainment Association’s Avion awards in the USA.

Meanwhile, the airline’s sky taxi service has revolutionized domestic air travel in Sri Lanka, offering transfers between the airport and Colombo and Kandy, Koggala, Bentota, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura and Hingurakgoda – flight times from Bandaranaika International Airport are just 30 minutes to each town except for Trincomalee, which is a 45-minute transfer. The network incorporate most major tourist sites, from the beach resorts on the west coast around Bentota and Galle (Koggala), as well as Polonnaruwa (Hingurakgoda), Anuradhapura, Kandy and Trincomalee.
 
The most recent award, from The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), is judged by industry specialists, in recognition of aviation business strategy and leadership, rather than conventional in-flight product brands.

The committee praised SriLankan for its multi-pronged development that has encompassed expansion to India and China as well as promotion of Colombo as a regional hub.

According to the carrier’s CEO, Peter Hill, the award reinforced the viability of SriLankan’s growth strategy and its claim to be one of the major players in the regional aviation sector.

“In just three years, we have grown our fleet and network to encompass 42 destinations in 23 countries from Europe to the Middle East and the Far East,” he said.

“Colombo is becoming a viable hub for transit between east and west, as well as a gateway in to the Indian sub-continent, and, during this time, we have nearly doubled profitability – and all this has been achieved by our staff working together to revitalize the carrier following the catastrophic events of 2001.”

 

Hill said that the award was an endorsement of immense value to SriLankan Airlines in its continued pursuit of excellence and development of new destinations in the region and beyond.

 

It is the latest in a string of accolades for the Sri Lankan carrier, which was voted as the Best Airline in Central Asia in 2004 by Skytrax Research, the fourth consecutive year it has topped this nomination in the world’s largest airline passenger survey.

 

So, it is not only safe to visit Sri Lanka these days. A traveler can take comfort in the fact that he or she can enjoy this unique destination and visit the areas unaffected by the tsunami with an award-winning airline. 

(with wire inputs)

DUBAI (eTurboNews)

March 15, 2005   Posted in: Airlines & Railways