SriLankan presents 'Milestones on Our Journey'

SriLankan Airlines launched a book titled "Milestones on Our Journey", on the achievements of the National Carrier and the challenges it has faced over the past decade. The first copies of the book were presented to religious dignitaries at ceremonies in Kandy and Colombo on November 5 and 6.

Head of Corporate Communications at the National Carrier, Chandana de Silva said: "This book is a tribute to the staff of our airline - 6,000 of them scattered around the world - who have served their company and this country faithfully through thick and thin." "This is a story of triumph over challenge - not just one but multiple challenges.

SriLankan Airlines has faced more trials in the past decade than any company I can think of anywhere in the world, from the destruction of half our fleet of aircraft in the terror attack on Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in July 2001, to the Tsunami of December 2004. Through it all, the members of the SriLankan Airlines family have stood firm and resilient," de Silva said.

He said their operations to Europe were operating at losses. "Yet we survived," he said.

The 56-page book, published in both Sinhala and English, also speaks of the manner in which SriLankan has become an internationally renowned airline, winning more than 50 awards since its partial privatisation in 1998, many of them global accolades.