Aviation

Discover traditional SriLankan Ayurveda in September

SRILANKAN Airlines will fly in delegates from around the world for the country’s first ever Ayurveda conference to be held in September this year.

Showcasing the country’s ancient healing traditions, the event to be held from September 7-9, will be one of the largest indigenous medical exhibitions and symposiums in Colombo.

The Ayurveda conference is one of many events being promoted under SriLankan Airlines MICE plan.

SriLankan Airlines is to actively promote travel for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions or MICE travel across its network this year.

The airline’s MICE division will focus mainly on Sri Lanka, the Far East and Middle East for MICE tourism, working closely with SriLankan Holidays, the airline’s leisure arm, to offer attractive packages.

“We will be aggressively promoting MICE tourism, moving away from our traditional role of promoter to actively canvassing traffic across our network,” General Manager of SriLankan Airlines MICE Division Amith Sumanapala said.

Delegates for the Ayurveda conference will be offered attractive airfares, while SriLankan Holidays will also promote special packages for an extended stay in Sri Lanka.

Top speakers from Sri Lanka and the region are expected to participate as well as Ayurvedic medical institutions, product manufacturers, hoteliers, investment promotion agencies among others.

“The purpose of the conference is to make Sri Lanka a hub for Ayurveda - medical services, wellness in tourism, spas, herbal products, food, even research and development,” Managing Director of Sidhalepa Asoka Hettigoda, said.

Literally meaning ‘Science of Life’, Ayurveda is a 4000 year old natural medicinal system that tries to balance a person’s mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

In Sri Lanka, there have been many spin-offs from the Ayurveda industry: spa holidays, meditation, herbal products, food and spices to medical treatment.

Sri Lanka is also home to 200 plant ingredients for Ayurvedic medicines that are found nowhere else in the world. Tourists here on a wellness holiday also tend to stay longer and spend more, a spokesman said.

Emirates and Airbus conclude week-long tests

Seven days, 100 tests, and more than 2000 people involved: the A380’s compatibility at Dubai International Airport has been successfully demonstrated.

With an onboard team of almost 80 Airbus personnel that participated in the test programme, the 21st century flagship aircraft took off from Dubai at 10:00 hours yesterday, having effectively concluded a rigorous campaign of operability tests, both in normal and extreme temperature conditions.

During its week-long Dubai visit, marking one of the longest customer trials for Airbus, the aircraft, MSN 007, was the centrepiece of numerous compatibility tests including taxiway, runway and ground support equipment tests, as well as docking trials at the terminal gate and in the state-of-the-art Emirates Engineering Centre.

Seeking to familiarise its staff with the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft, Emirates, jointly with Airbus, conducted four test flights that brought into play all key units of the airline such as Airport Services, Inflight Catering, Cabin Crew, Flight Operations, Cargo, Inflight Systems, Engineering and Maintenance, Group Security, and Dnata Airport Operations.

From the time the test campaign was conceived, Emirates was clear - tests must be as real as possible and conducted under typical airline conditions.

Two of the test flights were operated in the morning when Dubai International Airport was at its busiest, followed by two flights later in the afternoon.

The flights, each two hours in duration and flown over the UAE, were operated at almost 80 percent load factor - the average seat factor experienced by the Dubai-based airline.

Even with 40 percent more passengers on average per flight, the A380’s turnaround time between each of the two test flights on 17th and 18th August was fixed at 90 minutes.

Boarding of passengers, comprising mostly airline staff, was conducted via double-decker aerobridges as well as off stand through buses on tarmac.

The hot weather operability tests culminated with the smooth docking of the A380 at Hangar C in Emirates Engineering Centre later in the week.

The dock fabricated and commissioned by UAE-based Excel Industries will allow full access to all areas of the aircraft for heavy maintenance, while at the same time ensure a safe, stable and efficient working environment up to 24 metres above ground level.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Executive Vice President, Engineering and Operations said: “Emirates is delighted at the successful completion of a long and comprehensive test campaign with Airbus. Emirates’ staff, drawn from various operational departments, were able to familiarise themselves with the aircraft, ahead of its entry into the airline’s fleet.”

‘Lanka aviation ties with India becoming increasingly popular’

SriLankan Airlines has joined forces with Tempo Holidays as a preferred partner in the wholesaler’s new India-Sri Lanka programme.

The Sri Lankan national carrier operates more flights to India than any other foreign airline, with almost 100 weekly flights from Colombo to 10 destinations in India.

From Australia, SriLankan Airlines code shares on daily flights by its partner airline and shareholder Emirates on the Sydney - Bangkok, Melbourne - Singapore and Brisbane - Singapore routes, from where passengers transfer to SriLankan’s own flights.

From Colombo, SriLankan operates a mix of wide-bodied Airbus A330 and narrow- bodied Airbus A320 aircraft to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Calicut, Kochi, Bangalore, Goa, Tiruchirapally and Thiruvananthapuram.

“India is the strongest international market in our network, and we are delighted to be a partner in the new Tempo Holidays programme,” said Ian Robinson, Regional Manager Australia for SriLankan Airlines.

“The combination of India and Sri Lanka is also becoming increasingly popular with international visitors, including a growing number of Australians seeking to combine the two destinations,” said Mr Robinson.

“We offer frequent flights between Sri Lanka and India on a young fleet of Airbus jets, enabling travellers to experience the best of both destinations, and to travel easily between them.” (E Travel Blackboard.)