Aviation
SriLankan Airlines Asia Pacific Golf Champions tour a success
The first ever seniors PGA tournament to be held in Sri Lanka
concluded successfully recently with over 55 senior pro-golfers playing
in the stunning Victoria Golf Club course in Kandy.
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SriLankan
Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena |
Mike Harwood, the winner of the tournament said, "I find it very
refreshing to come to a country with such a different culture, food and
friendly people in my closing years as a golfer, and I certainly will
visit again to play", he said.
As the flag carrier, SriLankan Airlines has been actively promoting
sports tourism to attract holidaymakers to the country, with events such
as golf, International Rugby Sevens and Pro-Surfing which play a key
role in promoting Sri Lanka as a destination beyond beaches, heritage
sites and wildlife.
SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena said, "We are delighted to
add the Senior PGA Asia Pacific Champions tour, to our growing list of
sports tourism related products to promote our country as an exotic
destination," Chandrasena said. Golfers from the US, Australia, Canada,
New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Africa, the
Philippines, Switzerland, Malaysia, the UK signed up for the event which
was played from February 15 to 18.
Winners walked away with some great prizes, including a five-night
golf holiday in Bangkok.
Over4.85 m passengers pass through Dubai Int'l Airport in January
Dubai International began 2012 on a strong note with record monthly
passenger traffic of over 4.85 million in January, according to the
latest traffic report issued by Dubai Airports.
Passenger traffic in January reached 4,852,139 passengers, surpassing
the previous record of 4,724,109 of July 2011, and a 14 per cent
increase compared to 4,254,735 recorded in January 2011. The 14 per cent
upsurge is the largest month-on-month increase in 14 months. This
performance brings Dubai International?s rolling 12-month passenger
numbers to 51.57 million and builds on the historic 50.98 million
passengers recorded in 2011.
The AGCC continued to top the list of regions with the largest
increase in total passenger numbers in January (+203,219 passengers),
followed by Western Europe (+100,902), the Indian subcontinent (+92,855
passengers), and Russia and the CIS (+77,454 passengers). Middle Eastern
routes continued the downward trend in the New Year (-4,747 passengers)
owing to on-going unrest in the region, while traffic on African routes
surged after months of weak performance (+34,909 passengers).
Spurred by the launch of Emirates Airlines new routes to Rio de
Janeiro and Buenos Aires, South America was the strongest market in
terms of percentage passenger growth in January (+71.4 per cent),
followed by Russia and CIS (+57.3 per cent) driven by the expansion of
Dubai's low cost carrier flydubai in the region, and the AGCC (+36.9 per
cent) as a result of growth in Saudi Arabian traffic. Eastern Europe
(20.6 per cent) and Australasia (16.7) also achieved high growth rates.
Total aircraft movements for Dubai International rose 8.4 per cent to
29,680 compared to 27,385 last January.
Cargo volumes contracted 2.6 per cent to 173,531 tonnes compared to
178,199 tonnes in January last year reflecting on-going weaker global
airfreight demand and fragile consumer confidence.
?It is fitting that we started a record-breaking year with record
monthly passenger numbers. Our projections indicate 2012 traffic totals
will reach 56.5 million, obliterating last year?s record of 51 million,?
said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
?The fantastic start to the year is partially due to the traffic
surge caused by the holiday season, the recently concluded Dubai
Shopping Festival and the on-going expansion of the hub network.? |