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Aviation
Emirates’ Skywards:
Triple and double treats for members
Travellers out of Colombo with Emirates can now earn extra Skywards
Miles till the end of June thanks to a new promotion launched by the
award-winning Dubai-based carrier. Emirates is offering all members of
Skywards, an opportunity to earn Triple Miles in First and Business
Classes and earn Double Miles in Economy Class on specified flights to
any one of 80 selected destinations.
“This is yet another bonanza for our passengers,” said Emirates Sales
Manager Sri Lanka, Devika Ellepola. Skywards Miles have become popular
among our passengers because they make travel very much more rewarding.
This is also a great opportunity for non members to register with
Skywards right away and earn miles with their first flight as members.
The destinations eligible for bonus miles include London, New York,
Johannesburg, Zurich, Sao Paulo, Perth and a host of others. To receive
these bonus miles, passengers should register through e-mail or the
Emirates website (www.emirates.com/lk) and complete their travel by June
30.
The offer is open to passengers who are already Skywards members and
to those who become members before June 30, 2009, and are resident in
Sri Lanka. The bonus miles they receive are in addition to the Miles
normally earned in respect of their flights. The Skywards Miles won or
accumulated can be redeemed for free air tickets or many other benefits
offered by Skywards, including upgrades, hotel accommodation,
excursions, exclusive shopping, and fine dining.
Offers for SriLankan Platinum Amex holders
SriLankan Holidays celebrates the holiday season with offers for its
SriLankan Platinum American Express card holders.
Cardholders are offered the opportunity of redeeming their well
earned miles as part payment, up to 55 percent of the package to a range
of exciting yet contrasting destinations.
These deals take you to Dubai and neighbouring Bangalore where
shopping is great, to Male where one can indulge in the sun, sea and the
sand, and also on a long haul experience to enjoy a refreshing British
Spring in London and even perhaps to Rome.
With the ICC World Twenty20 Tournament around the corner, cricketing
enthusiasts can now cheer the Sri Lankan team and catch the action
‘live’ right there in London, with SriLankan Holidays.
Commencing Friday June 5, the two-week ICC World Twenty20 tournament
brings together the world’s top male and female cricketers in a well
fought competition that pits nation against nation over four venues in
London, which are Lord’s, The Oval, Trent Bridge and Taunton.
The prize will be awarded to the World Twenty20 champions on June 21
at Lord’s, the Home of Cricket. The offer is valid till June 30, 2009.
SriLankan Holidays also promises travellers a ‘World of Memories’
with all-inclusive package tours in more than 30 cities in South Asia,
Southeast Asia, the Far East, Middle East and Europe.
SIA’s winners reimbursed
Singapore Airlines Sri Lanka conducted a promotion in association
with Gold FM which offered lucky travellers a full refund of the price
paid for a SIA Holiday package purchased.
The promotion which ran for two weeks in March was targeted at the
April holiday travellers. The SIA Holiday package included return air
fare to Singapore, a minimum of two nights, hotel accommodation and
exciting value additions such as discounts at designated dining outlets
and tours.
The package proved to be a very popular offering, from a good
selection of quality hotels in Singapore ranging from the 5-star Regent,
Carlton, Pan Pacific to the more moderately priced Peninsular Excelsior,
Hotel Royal, Copthrone Orchid and many more.
Every week a lucky winner who had purchased an SIA Holiday package
was selected and they won a full refund of the amount paid.
The first draw lucky winners were Sherine Castelino and Manel
Jayasinghe. They purchased their tickets from the Singapore Airlines
office on March 17 and the total package cost reimbursed was Rs. 89,800.
The draw two lucky winners were Batawalage Madarasinghe, Mahesha
Amarasinghearachchige and Tharindu Batawalage. The total cost of their
package was Rs. 114,600.
The picture shows Batawalage being presented with the cheque by Sales
Manager Singapore Airlines Radhini Seneviratne.
SIA plans to run similar promotions shortly as SIA Holiday’s has
proved to be a value-for-money proposition among discerning
holidaymakers.
Aviation industry poised for M&A
The Indian aviation industry is poised for another round of
consolidation as early as the first half of the current fiscal, with
low-cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet requiring significant capital
and funds inflow, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has said.
“The next round of consolidation may be strategic in nature. For
example, SpiceJet has indicated that it would be interested in
participating in such a development,” the CAPA said in its report titled
“Indian Airlines Prepare for Consolidation Round Two”.
Stating that the market and investors will support sensible
consolidation which is designed to restore profitability rather than
pursuing scale, it said, “CAPA expects that activity will be seen on
this front in H1 (first half) 2009-10”.
Though the report is silent on the specifics of the mergers and
acquisitions expected, it says: “Low-cost carriers (LCCs) such as IndiGo
and SpiceJet also have significant capital requirements and will need
further flows of funding ...The next round of consolidation is therefore
most likely to occur in the LCC sector.”
SpiceJet and Indigo officials were not available for comments on the
CAPA report. The CAPA report further said consolidation was most likely
to happen in the LCC segment, “especially as the full service carriers
do not have the balance sheets to engage in further acquisitions”.
The paper notes that the earlier round of consolidation in 2007 with
the Kingfisher-Air Deccan merger, Air India and Indian Airlines merger
and Jet-Sahara acquisition took place against the background of an
industry that was beginning to exhibit the first signs of distress.
The bullish fleet orders placed by Indian carriers in that period saw
capacity being introduced at the rate of 6 to 6.5 aircraft a month,
whereas the actual growth in demand was closer to equivalent of three
aircraft.
Also, the rapid increase in capacity was taking place at a time when
the airport modernisation program was yet to deliver upgraded
infrastructure which meant that airports and airways were highly
congested, increasing airline operating costs, it added.
The report said in a period of boom, demand for skilled personnel
such as pilots and engineers also outstripped supply leading to a sharp
escalation in wages, and in some cases grounding of aircraft due a
shortage of staff.
(PTI)
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Sri Lanka Airline Cargo Association (SLACA)
held its 15th consecutive Cricket Sixes Carnival for its
customer freight forwarders (SLFFA) recently at the NCC Grounds,
Colombo 7. Organised by SLACA and headed by the cricket
committee chairman 2009 Kapila Santhapriya, a record number of
32 teams participated in the event with a large turnout of
fellow members and team supporters at the grounds. McCallum
Cargo (Pvt) Ltd were the champions for 2009 after a unbeaten
performance and Scanwell Logistics Colombo (Pvt) Ltd came
runners-up. Here Chairman, Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders
Association Ruwan Waidyaratne presents the Champion trophy to
the Captain of McCallum Cargo and Anil Wijesinghe - President.
Sri Lanka Airline Cargo Association, Kapila Santhapriya, Cricket
Committee Chairman and Social Co-ordinator SLACA, Chamara
Ranasinghe - (Secretary SLACA). |
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