Government must move low cost carriers to Lanka

Shirajiv Sirimanne in London

Excel, Tuesday: SriLankan Airlines can bring in more revenue if some of the European routes which are running at a loss can be turned around, Corporate Communications Manager SriLankan, Chandana De Silva said.

Speaking to ‘Daily News Business’ from the WTM stall he said other than the London flight most other flights to Europe are running at a loss. The main reason for this is that they are not operating on a daily basis and they do not have good connections,” he said.

With the Colombo Airport bombing several years ago flights operating to these destinations were reduced and this is telling on them. “However, the SriLankan and Emirates management is not in a position to introduce additional flights since they do not have new aircraft,” De Silva explained.

Air Lanka, was privatised following the establishment of a strategic partnership with Dubai based Emirates Airlines where the airline took a 40% shareholding in the company. This was crucial as throughout the previous decade investment had been minimal - a factor that had retarded growth and taken away the airline’s competitive edge.

“The SriLankan Emirates 10-year management deal would be terminated from next April. Since the contract has not been renewed, the management is not in a position to re-invest in new aircraft and other infrastructure,” he said.

De Silva said that he personally feels that the Emirates deal has done a lot of good to the country. “Before it was privatised the then Air Lanka was dependent on the Treasury. The burden was so high the Opposition and even the lending institutions wanted it privatised,” he recalled.

He said after Emirates took over 40 per cent of shares, the airline has made profits. “Most of these profits were re-invested in the country,” he said.

De Silva said that the Government should woo more low cost carriers to fly to Sri Lanka as it would help to promote Sri Lanka as a destination. “They should be offered concessions by way of low cost aviation fuel, handouts and other benefits so that they would like to fly to Colombo,” he said.

The airline spends around Rs. 450 million to promote Sri Lanka and also provides free access to foreign media and other celebrities to visit and promote the country. The airline also sponsors golf, rugby and introduced international windsurfing to Arugam Bay and Hikkaduwa.

He said there are positive signals that the deal would be extended. “SriLankan is aiming, as well as developing business traffic, to maximise its short-haul tourist travel from the Indian sub-continent to Sri Lanka,” he said.

SriLankan’s efforts in regenerating itself as a major Asian carrier have not gone unnoticed and it has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards.