New strategies and management practices for Mihin Air
Hiran H.Senewiratne
Minister of Aviation Sarath Kumara Gooneratne speaking on the
occasion of the recommencement of Mihin Air flight said they would
infuse new strategies and management practices to improve the efficiency
and the effectiveness of the airline under Mahinda Chintana to make it
the most popular low cost airline in the South Asian region.
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Minister of Civil Aviation Sarath Kumara Gunaratne,
Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation T Hewage and a
Mihin Lanka official observing the newly leased out Boeing
737-800 aircraft just before the inaugural take off to Dubai
yesterday.
Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa |
He said at present they have appointed an excellent team of
professionals to run both SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Air.
SriLankan Airlines will be functioning as a co-operator and not as a
competitor to Mihin Air, SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer
Manoj Gunawardena told the Daily News Business.
"With the recommencing of Mihin Air, it will be positioned as a value
end airline, while SriLankan Airlines will function as the high end
airline in the future," Gunawardena said at a function to announce the
recommencing of the Mihin Air with a flight to Dubai yesterday.
He said with the termination of the management contract with
Emirates, SriLankan Airlines would help to manage Mihin Air as the
co-operator in the future. They will also be going for feeder roots with
Mihin Air and vice versa when it comes to Dubai and other destinations
that both airlines fly to.
He said that Mihin being a low cost airline will be different to
SriLankan Airlines in price, product, and facility differences of the
flight.
Transavia a subsidiary of KLM Air France group is happy to work in
collaboration with Mihin Air in the future and hopes to extend its
support to improve the local entity, said Transavia Chief Operating
Officer Phillip Bardon. Mihin Air has leased out aircraft from Transavia
on a vet lease arrangement.
He said that aircraft is a latest year 2008 model aircraft with
highest technology that has only flown only 400 hours with all safety
standards including IATA Operation Safety Audit standards and European
Aviation Safety Standards.
Bardon said they would be working with Mihin Air in the future to
provide similar aircraft on a wet lease basis. Transavia was founded in
late 1965 by a Belgian and a Scottish private person under the name of
Transavia Limburg N.V. with Maastricht Aachen Airport as its home base.
Since December 2004 its public name has been transavia.com, changed
from Transavia Airlines. |
