SriLankan going 'Green'

SriLankan Airlines has launched a series of long-term initiatives aimed at safeguarding the environment and emphasizing its commitment to conservation.

SriLankan has begun discussions with the Environmental Unit of International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global aviation industry's governing body, to exchange the latest information and developments on aviation related environment issues. SriLankan is also participating in IATA's current survey on Environment Management Systems among Airlines.

The National Carrier is now formulating a comprehensive Environmental Policy, which will govern the company's impact on the environment around the world.

A special Environmental Team is to be appointed shortly to drive the airline's efforts in the area of conservation.

Chief Executive Officer, Manoj Gunawardena, said: "The global airline industry is increasingly moving towards minimising its impact on the environment, and IATA is driving various initiatives in this area. SriLankan Airlines already has a large number of environmental safeguards, and we are now putting in place a formal mechanism to guide and govern all of the company's activities in this regard."

A Comparative Study has already been carried out by SriLankan on current environmental initiatives of several other major airlines.

Manager International Relations at SriLankan, Sri Senanayake, said: "The international aviation industry is in the formative stages of moving towards safeguarding the environment.

It is important that SriLankan Airlines stays in step with global trends and we have made a firm commitment in this direction. We intend to develop our programme rapidly over the next few months." A dialogue has also begun with the Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority on present aviation environment standards and their implementation in Sri Lanka.

In addition, the National Carrier is also actively participating in the tourism industry's environmental initiatives and action groups.

The airline has in recent years adopted a number of initiatives aimed at safeguarding the environment and minimising the impact of the company's operations on the environment.

These include measures to increase fuel efficiency of aircraft and routes; recycling of waste products; purification of effluents; and reduction of energy usage at the company's many installations.

A former Wildlife Ranger Buddhika Hewawasam, who is behind the airline's drive to go Green, said: "Our Green Policy is being formulated to take us to a position of environmental excellence in the airline industry.

We are planning to incorporate a wide range of activities with a strategic view towards prevention and control of pollution, environmental education and proper monitoring and reporting.

We intend to focus especially on enhancing staff awareness of current trends in the aviation industry towards safeguarding the environment".