AVIATION

Corporate sector hails Mihin Lanka

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Hot on the heels, Mihin Lanka being named as the best budget airline flying to Bangladesh several corporate leaders have hailed the airline.

Tilak de Zoysa

Dian Gomes

CEO of an internationally reputed intimate, active and swimwear apparel manufacturer, Dian Gomes of MAS Holdings, says that Mihin Lanka makes Commercial sense.

“I have always opted to fly Mihin Lanka and advocate my fellow colleagues to do the same as well, as flying Mihin is not only the economical option but is hassle free, safe, comfortable and much faster. Naturally the first time I flew Mihin Lanka I was apprehensive, due to the tenuous reputation the airline apparently had, however having flown the airline I don’t see what the hype was about as in my opinion Mihin Lanka easily supercedes most other airlines, I have flown. In fact given the level and quality of service and flight experience it is very difficult to adopt to the thought of Mihin as a budget carrier”, said Gomes speaking highly of the airline.

Mihin Lanka is staffed by an experienced crew as well as airport service staff and Gomes was emphatic in his opinion of the service quality being directly linked to this.

“Even though Mihin Lanka is a budget carrier, the Mihin staff has been those working at National and International carriers. The experience, training and discipline the staff has received on board these carriers, shines through even now.”

Gomes often travels on Mihin Lanka on its direct flight to Dhaka, as this is an important juncture for the apparel industry of the MAS Holdings Company. The availability of a direct flight, enabling passengers to reach their destination in less than half the time it would otherwise take, is a vital factor specially for commercial and business travellers. Mihin Lanka’s proven track record of timely take off and landing are yet another reason for the airline’s popularity with its business passengers.

“In the end its all about making commercial sense. Mihin Lanka offers direct flights to Dhaka and six other destinations and given the choice the direct flight will always be the first pick,” continued Gomes.

Apart from the cost, time saving capabilities, timely travel and safe aircraft, what is really important for an airline in order to maintain its likability and customer support is the customer service.

Mihin Lanka strives to afford an exceptional customer service from the time a passenger checks in until he reaches his destination.

Tilak de Zoysa, President of AMW, was faced with a dilemma when recently travelling to Dhaka on business. On the one hand there was the option of flying a regular airline but spending almost eight hours flying and in transit or opting to fly Mihin Lanka and saving the time spent by more than half. After much thought and consideration and having checked with others who had flown in this airline de Zoysa made the decision to fly Mihin Lanka for the first time, to Dhaka.

“I must say seeing the plane from the exterior and then climbing aboard and witnessing the interior of the plane, I was pleasantly surprised! For some strange reason, I had always had an impression that the planes would not be up to standard. Instead not only was the plane new, clean and well equipped but the subsequent flight experience was simply great!”

“After all the aircraft does not have any class segregation and therefore everyone was treated equally whilst on board. I thought this was great as the service level was of a very high standard. In fact, if I were to look at my experience from the service and food levels I would not have thought I was on a budget carrier. Because Mihin Lanka’s budget carrier service levels are far higher than most regular airlines.”

“I will definitely be flying Mihin Lanka and I will also definitely promote it to all my friends and colleagues who have thus far had the same wrong impression I had for years regarding the airline,” continued de Zoysa

de Zoysa also expressed his surprise and pleasure to meet the Deputy Prime Minister of Japan, Katsuya Okada, on the same Mihin Lanka Dhaka flight.

This high praise from Tilak de Zoysa was a further contributing factor for Kapila Chandrasena, CEO, Mihin Lanka to go ahead with the plans in store for Mihin Lanka that seeks to place Mihin on a whole new level amongs Budget Carriers Internationally.

“Not only do we have plans to expand our fleet, but we are also very seriously looking at broadening our destinations and especially our direct flight destinations as we feel this is what modern day busy passengers, especially commercial/business travellers are looking for. We have come a long way since the inception of the company and the airline from this point will only be a forward journey,” said Chandrasena.

“What we want for Mihin Lanka is to open up the market for a wider scope of passengers, as well as destinations. We are constantly conducting market research to discover the niche destinations that are in demand and cater to those within our region initially before moving on to those further away. Of course, to this end we will be expanding our fleet as well. Making Sri Lanka a travel hub is our ultimate goal and present conditions show that we are well on our way there,” commented, Kapila Chandrasena, CEO Mihin Lanka.

Emirates introduce new travel companions

Emirates young globalists can now enjoy the company of new travel companions with the introduction of a collection of onboard toys launched recently. With two ranges of toys aimed at pre-school and older children, the travel experience has been further refined by Emirates to enable young passengers to have an entertaining, memorable journey.

Pre-school children can look forward to collecting a range of original monster characters from the 'Fly With Me Monster' collection.

The playful monsters - Jimbob, Tezz, Camus and Wagga, each has their own personalities and traits, and are ideal characters to fuel a child's imagination. Each monster toy comes in three product categories; Blanket Buddies - plush characters wrapped around soft polar fleece blankets, seat belt critters - little toys worn around a seat belt to encourage safety, and magnetic sketchers where Emirates.

For older children, Emirates will offer a range of new travel-inspired products co-designed with iconic lifestyle brand Quiksilver. Tapping into the spirit of adventure, travel and the great outdoors, the Quiksilver collection is designed around three themes - surfing, snowboarding and skating. The collection features travel folios aimed at encouraging personalization and discovery, velcro surf-style wallets with the latest Quiksilver graphics and fun-fact game cards which combine inspirational photography from Quiksilvers own photo archives with Emirates diverse destinations.

“We are constantly seeking more dynamic entertainment options for our discerning young travellers, when they are onboard,” said Terry Daly, Divisional Senior Vice President, Service Delivery, Emirates.

First A380 for Malaysia Airlines unveiled

The first A380 for Malaysia Airlines was unveiled recently, bearing its special celebration livery, ahead of entry-into-service yesterday on the Kuala Lumpur-London route.

The livery was designed by Malaysia Airlines specifically for its new A380 flagship and was applied post-delivery by Airbus in Toulouse.

Altogether Malaysia Airlines has ordered six A380s with a premium layout seating 494 passengers in three classes.

This aircraft will be used to operate thrice weekly (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday) for Kuala Lumpur - London and the return flight departing the next day.

The current overall booked load for the first seven A380 flights is very encouraging; with departures from Kuala Lumpur and London registering 89% and 87% seat factors respectively.

The demand for Business class, which has a capacity of 64 seats per flight, is also very encouraging with one flight overbooked from London and another fully booked from Kuala Lumpur.

The booked Business class seats for the first seven flights in each direction is around 85% from Kuala Lumpur and 90% from London.

With the delivery of the second aircraft in August, Malaysia Airlines will operate daily A380 flights on this route.

Oman air continues its ascent

Oman Air has been more successful over the first five months of 2012 than at any time in its history.

Between January 1 and May 31 the airline net passenger revenue grew by 28%, compared to a full-year increase of 28% in 2011 while passenger numbers grew by 19%, compared to a full-year increase of 16% in 2011. In addition Cargo revenue increased by 47%, compared to a full-year increase of 28% in 2011while Cargo tonnage increased by 33%, compared to a full-year increase of13% in 2011.

Announcing the airline’s findings, Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Wayne Pearce, said, “I am very pleased to say that Oman Air has generated greater revenues, carried more passengers and transported more cargo between January and May 2012 than at any equivalent time in the airline’s history. These excellent figures build further on the year-on–year increases we have achieved over the last two years and confirm Oman Air’s continued ascent as a world-class international airline.”