AVIATION

Emirates invests in own premium lounge at BIA

Emirates has opened its own dedicated passenger lounge at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayaka (BIA), becoming the first international airline to invest in such a facility at the BIA.

Completed at a cost of Rs 200 million, the Emirates lounge on the second floor of the Arrivals Terminal is exclusively for the use of the airline's First and Business Class passengers and Gold members of Skywards, its frequent flyer programme.

The Emirates lounge in Colombo

The 5,778 square-foot space is designed, equipped and furnished to the exacting specifications developed for Emirates lounges at 30 other major international airports around the world. It can accommodate up to 118 passengers in comfort, helping further cushion them from travel weariness.

“Emirates is one of the most active carriers serving Colombo, with 28 flights a week,” said Chandana de Silva, Emirates Area Manager Sri Lanka & Maldives. “This makes the Emirates lounge a tangible value addition to passengers departing or transiting at the BIA. Our investment in this facility reflects the continuing commitment of Emirates to its operations in Sri Lanka, as well as our optimism about the potential of the destination.”

The Emirates lounge at the BIA features 58 leather armchairs, a dining area for 54 people, a Business Centre with seating for six, an outdoor terrace overlooking airside with seating, a well-stocked bar, a TV viewing area with the choice of most of the international channels, a dedicated prayer room, shower facilities, and washrooms for males, females and disabled. It offers buffet dining for all meals and Wi-Fi facilities.

Besides the new lounge in Colombo, Emirates has three lounges in Dubai, and has launched 27 other lounges in key cities across its network since 2005. They are in Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Birmingham, Brisbane, Dusseldorf, Delhi, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Hamburg, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Manchester, Melbourne, Mumbai, Munich, New York JFK, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Perth, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Zurich.

The winner of more than 500 prestigious international travel and aviation awards, Emirates operates 14 direct flights a week from Colombo to Dubai, seven flights via Male to Dubai and daily flights from Colombo to Singapore, offering First, Business and Economy Class services. The Emirates global network now comprises 121 destinations.

Carson group celebrates 50 years

The prestigious National Carrier of Netherlands, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines appointed Carson Cumberbatch and Co. LTD as their general sales agent in then Ceylon way back in April 1962. This partnership blossomed seeing an uninterrupted on line operation to Sri Lanka until 1997 with 3 weekly flights to Colombo.

In 1993 Carsons Airline Services (Private) limited was incorporated and remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Carson Cumberbatch PLC that has continued a successful partnership in a “offline” environment which has reached a half a century of unbroken relationship with KLM Royal Dutch airlines making it the longest agreement KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has with such a partner in the world.

Looking back at recent history Colombo being a strategic geographical location served as a key transfer point at the time KLM operated flights to Australia and Singapore linking Europe with Australia and the Far East. Colombo also serviced KLM as a station that had joint operations with KLM Stations in Pakistan and the Middle East.

Carson group on its part over the 50 years has committed itself to strengthening its association with KLM and its associated partners and in doing so also represented Garuda Indonesia from 1969-1983 which was closely associated with KLM at the time. In time Transavia and Martinair too were represented by the Carson group in Sri Lanka following its partnership with KLM.

Martinair operated flights to Colombo from 2000 – 2003 and then again from 2005-2007 which is evident of the close bonds shared by not only the two companies but by two nations even during times when the entire aviation world was challenged globally.

Carson Airlines Services (Private) Ltd represented Northwest airlines since 1994 and continued to do so under the partnership agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines until its merger with Delta Airlines in 2009.

Carson Airlines Services (Private) Ltd were appointed GSA for Air France in 2004.

In 2011 Carsons Airline services were proud to have been appointed GSA for Kenya Airways in Sri Lanka.

To commemorate this milestone and in appreciation of the support and loyalty extended to us over the decades by the travel agents in Sri Lanka an evening of entertainment followed by dinner was hosted at “O by The Brewery “ at the Court Yard 2 of the former Dutch hospital complex.

The distinguished invitees included Ambassador of France Mrs Christine Robichon and HE the Ambassador of Netherlands Louis Piet

The evening was presided by the Senior Vice President Asia Pacific Marnix Fruitema, General Manager South Asia Pieter De Man and Director Sales Ms Kamal Sengupta of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, along with the Board of directors of Carson Cumberbatch PLC.

SIA's Boeing 747 takes off on final trip

The last Boeing 747 passenger service operated by Singapore Airlines took off Friday for a commemorative farewell return trip to Hong Kong.

Flight SQ747, carrying more than 350 passengers, was due to touch down in Singapore at 7:30 pm (1130 GMT).

SIA was one of the world's largest operators of 747s but is retiring its entire 747 fleet in favour of more modern aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and the “super jumbo” Airbus A380, now the world's largest jetliner.

“The 747 was truly the jewel in our fleet for nearly four decades, and we would not be the airline that we are today if we had not made the bold decision in 1972 to purchase this iconic jetliner,” said Mak Swee Wah, SIA's executive vice president commercial.

“The jumbo enabled us to fly from Singapore to destinations that we could not previously reach.

“It also allowed us to do things that were previously unimaginable on a commercial aircraft, giving us the opportunity to provide our customers new standards in space and comfort.”

SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides told AFP the airline's cargo arm would still continue to operate its fleet of 13 Boeing 747-400 freighters.

AFP