Aviation

Thai Airways to introduce 777-200 aircraft to Sri Lanka

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The new Thai Airways General Manager, for the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Lawit Sawadirak said that this 777-200 air craft would have more capacity and additional facilities. “It would offer 30 business scales seats and 279 economy seats,” he said. Commenting on the market he said that the Colombo Bangkok is seasonal driven. “There is high competition in the market though the cake is small,” he said.

With an uninterrupted service to Sri-Lanka since November 1976, Thai Airways Business Class offers seating which can recline up to 170 degrees.

“In addition it also has the option of having a personal telephone and a laptop power point,” he said. A host of other facilities are in the offing with exclusive checking-in lounges, plus the use of other Star Alliance Airport lounges worldwide, separate fast-track immigration channels and priority reservations.

To commemorate Thai Airways 35 years of uninterrupted service to Sri Lanka, the airline is offering special fares to Bangkok and beyond.

He said they have now appointed a new cargo agent and operations are picking up. Commenting on the Colombo Airport he said it is very clean but more X-ray scanning machines should be installed at the entrance to the departure terminal.

Asked about the rumours that some passengers are being victimized by some Duty Free employees he said “such things would never happen”. There are CCTV cameras installed everywhere and the airport too maintains high standards as it has a huge reputation,” he said. Thai Airways has announced plans to acquire 37 new aircraft over the next six years at a cost of 118.6 bn baht ($ 3.9 billion œ2.4 billion). The airline will buy six Boeing and nine Airbus planes, at a cost of almost 50 bn baht, and lease a further 22.

Thai Airways said the overall cost of the planes was equal to 40% of the company’s total assets.

The planes would be used on intercontinental, regional and short-haul flights, the airline said.

“The new planes will permit the company to be in the top three leading airlines in Asia and top five leading airlines in the world, both in terms of quality and services efficiency,” Thai Airways said.

The airline will take delivery of six Boeing B777-300ER planes in 2014-15, four Airbus A350-900 planes in 2016-17 and five A320-200 in 2014-15.

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SriLankan launches children’s frequent flyer programme

Open to children between two and eighteen years, ‘YoungSmiLes’ is operative in three distinctive categories, Young Blue, Young Silver and Young Gold and brings with it a range of benefits and conveniences to its young members.

Among them are pre-assigned seating, dedicated service centre, waitlist priority, priority check-in, excess baggage, priority baggage delivery, FlySmiLes upgrades and free tickets, lounge access, guaranteed seat reservations, Retro Miles, class bonus Miles and tier bonus Miles depending on the category one is in.

Manager Marketing Services, Ruwanthi Rodrigo said, “The launch of ‘YoungSmiLes’ is the realization of a long-term dream. With it we are proud to extend the excellence of our products and services to our junior passengers and welcome them to the SriLankan family. Not only do we welcome junior passengers resident in Sri Lanka, but also our thousands of junior passengers from all parts of the world”.

Applications could be obtained from www.flysmiles.com. The child’s parent or guardian needs to complete the YoungSmiLes Application Form and forward it with a letter of consent together with a copy of both the adult’s and child’s passport. Applications should be sent to FlySmiLes on [email protected].

To celebrate the launch, SriLankan Airlines is offering bonus miles for new enrollments upto October 31. If the parent or guardian is an existing FlySmiLes member, the YoungSmiLes member will receive a bonus of 1500 miles. For non-members, the YoungSmiLes member will receive a bonus of 1000 miles.

Travel undertaken prior to the launch of the YoungSmiLes Programme is not eligible to be accrued. Once the member reaches 18 years of age, membership will be automatically converted to FlySmiLes with no consent required from the parent or guardian.

Singapore Airlines increases flights to Beijing

Singapore Airlines will commence a fourth daily service between Singapore and Beijing from December 16. With the additional service, the Airline will operate a total of 28 weekly services to and from the Chinese capital.

The new service, SQ806, operated by Airbus A330 aircraft, will depart Singapore Changi Airport at 1910 hrs and arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport the following day at 0105 hrs. The return flight, SQ807, will depart Beijing at 0215 hrs and arrive in Singapore at 0855 hrs. “We thank our customers for their continued support for our services on this popular route. This has encouraged us to add a fourth daily service to Beijing, providing travellers more options with flight timings to better suit their travel needs,” said Executive Vice President Commercial Mak Swee Wah.

Singapore Airlines also flies daily to Guangzhou, 35 times weekly to Shanghai and 49 times weekly to Hong Kong. As previously announced, Guangzhou services will increase to twice-daily from late this month.