AVIATION

SriLankan scores high on punctuality

SriLankan Airlines first quarter (Jan-March) punctuality record reveals an impressive high average, exceeding the airlines punctuality benchmarks for all flights departing Colombo and destinations in the entire network. The punctuality average maintained for flights departing Colombo within 15 minutes of the scheduled time has been 89 percent, surpassing the airlines benchmark of 85 per cent with the month of March achieving a percentage as high as 92. Punctuality for flights departing Colombo within 3 minutes of the scheduled time is 73 percent, exceeding again, the airlines benchmark of 70 percent.

SriLankan Airlines System-wide Departure Punctuality Average for flights within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, for the first quarter, is only a fraction short of the benchmark of 85 percent, having achieved an average of 83 percent.

SriLankan is the sole ground handler at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and currently handles approximately 1,800 of its own flights and an additional 1,900 flights of other airlines, totaling approximately 3,700 monthly flight movements. In the midst of handling a large volume, the airline has taken every measure to improve its own on-time departures.

This is a clear indication of a high level of performance and the trend is attributed to several effective measures introduced to the system to improve punctuality, said Kapila Chandrasena, Chief Executive Officer, SriLankan. We consider it very important to maintain this positive trend of operating on-time, in this highly competitive environment, he added.

Punctuality is one of the key indicators of performance and an important service differentiator. Also it has a significant effect on cost savings. The reasons for flight delays fall into categories of avoidable and unavoidable conditions. The results reveal that SriLankan has managed all controllable factors reasonably well. Some uncontrollable factors that have affected recent flights are Air Traffic Controls due to unfavourable weather, airspace closures in South India and tsunami warnings which have had a ripple effect on air traffic movements. Other common factors that contribute to delays are late arrival of passengers and air traffic congestion in busy airports.

“All departments involved in the preparation of a flight dispatch, have taken up the challenge to achieve on-time departures especially by setting an example in the Colombo hub. Our Punctuality Improvement Committee is entrusted to get to the root causes of any delays. All this has resulted in a dramatic improvement,” said Captain Navin De Silva, Head of Flight Operations, SriLankan.

Getting a flight to leave on time is a challenging task for airlines across the world. Airlines have to ensure that they comply with safety regulations, enhanced security checks, airport congestion, weather and unforeseen operational conditions.

SriLankan is continuously enhancing the check-in, baggage handling and airport formalities to improve efficiencies that contribute to on-time departures.

The on-going extensive upgrade carried out at the BIA, will further contribute to improve passenger and aircraft handling in the future.

Careem Travel to introduce Money Changing arm

SriLanka’s airline travel agents are now attempting to stop a move by International Air Transport Association(IATA,)where they would be asked to settle all financial transactions in a single day.

“Earlier, the IATA had given one month's time to settle the airline (BSP) and then it was reduced to 10. Under the new proposal, the time period has been suggested to be one and this would be a major problem to agencies like us,” Manager Travel, Careem Lanka Travels (Pvt) Ltd, Mohamed Faiz said.

He said that the travel agents depend on the airline commission and corporate clients take time to settle air tickets.

He said that there was a growing demand of corporate travellers patronizing travel companies like them and the IATA should re-consider this decision.

He said that Careem Lanka was set up by A. C. B. M. Careem, mainly to service Sri Lankna expatriat workers. “Today the company too had a recruiting arm backed by a Cargo operation,” he said.

Faiz said that this was the reason for many of the Sri Lanka migrant workers to patronize their services. “In addition, we also cater to the leisure sector to provide one of the lowest air fares in Sri Lanka especially to the gulf,” he added.

Due to our track record we have got a request to open more branches and we would be opening our Kurunegale branch by the end of next month. This would be followed up by another branch in Akkaraipattu.He said that they had two branches in Colombo, the Maradana branch was very popular, since most of the migrant workers from the Western province were from the Maradana area.

Commenting on Mihn Lanka, he said that the airline was popular among migrant workers, since it provided a hot meal and a baggage allowance.

“Mihin should increase frequency and also look at new Gulf destinations,” he said. Faiz who counts over two decades of experience in the aviation sector, said that the low cost model worked well for the Gulf region.

Careem Lanka also organizes packages for Ramadan. Careem Lanka also have officers in the Gulf, to provide baggage facilities to Sri Lanknas. “We are now looking at introducing a money changing service and a foreign remittance arm,” he disclosed.

(SS)

Emirates counts down to Catalonia Service

Emirates is fast approaching the tripling of its flights to Spain, which includes the launch of a daily service to Barcelona from 3 July.

The airline has been stepping up activities in Barcelona, part of the commercially and culturally rich Catalonia region. Last night (22 May), Emirates hosted a media gathering in Barcelona, sharing the latest on preparations for the Barcelona service and its expansion in Spain.

The new Barcelona link will come two days after the launch of a second Emirates’ flight to Madrid on July 1.

“The new Barcelona flight is the culmination of a very significant increase in our services to Spain, said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide. “In the space of 48 hours, we will have tripled flights to this market in a clear demonstration of our commitment to Spain.” Barcelona has one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean and thousands of cruise passengers are amongst the city’s 7 million visitors per year. The city is also the capital of the Catalonia region, which receives approximately 25% of annual foreign investment in Spain.

“Dubai is strategically located between east and west. Through our industry leading Emirates’ Terminal 3 in Dubai, companies will have faster and more efficient access to Middle East, African and Asian markets. At the same time, Catalonia will be able to attract more foreign investment and our new daily service will certainly boost the tourist flow in and out of the region,” Mr Antinori added.

Emirates will serve Barcelona with a 360-seat Boeing 777-300ER with highly trained, multi-lingual cabin crew on hand in the First, Business and Economy Class cabins. The aircraft, amongst the largest in the airline’s fleet, offers luxurious First Class Private Suites, lie-flat seats in Business Class and a new generation of comfort in Economy Class. First and Business Class passengers can enjoy a complimentary chauffeur service to and from the airport.