Travel

SIA celebrates 40 years operation in Sri Lanka

Singapore Airlines is happy to announce the recent celebration of the 40 anniversary of our association with our GSA Aitken Spence PLC for operations in Sri Lanka.

It has been a fruitful and deep forged relationship that has been cemented in the long-standing history of SIA's operations to Sri Lanka.

And as part of our celebration, we have decided to move to a new office to further enhance our standards of service.

Singapore Airlines Colombo moved to its new location recently. The guests of honour, Singapore Airlines Regional Vice President West Asia and Africa Casey Owyong and Deputy Chairman Aitken Spence PLC J M S Brito declared the new office. The move to the new office location offers easy access to our customers and the enhanced layout provides a better and more professional level of service.

The new setting is located on the ground floor of the new annex lobby of Aitken Spence Tower II.

Customers can now enjoy the new ambience and service quality of SIA located on the accessible ground floor. There is also ample parking space for all our customers. GM SIA for Sri Lanka, Aldrin Arumugam was optimistic about the new office and said that he hoped that the move will enhance our service for our customers and give them that one more reason to make Singapore Airlines their favorite airline whenever they travel.

ChaayaBluTrincomalee wins Gold Circle Award 2012

ChaayaBluTrincomalee received the Gold Circle Award for the positive reviews and comments received from customers, competitive pricing offered and for showcasing an understanding of the complex business dynamics of the online leisure market at the agoda.com Gold Circle Awards 2012.

Agoda.com a leading hotel booking site and part of Nasdaq listed Priceline Group recently announced the winning hotels of the agoda.com Gold Circle Awards 2012.

This is a recognition given to hotels that lead by example in the competitive hospitality industry. Out of the 88 Sri Lankan hotels on agoda.com, ChaayaBluTrincomalee was announced as a winner of the prestigious award.

Launched in 2009, the awards are given to agoda.com partners who are committed to accommodating the unique needs of the online booking industry which has seen significant and steady global growth as technology continues to make online booking faster, easier and more convenient.

When guests stay at any of the winning hotels of agoda.com Gold Circle Award, they can be assured that their stay will be relaxing, comfortable, and up to the standards that agoda.com customers have come to expect.

Painting a canvas of unique blues and pure whites with a touch of the orange of the rising sun, ChaayaBluTrincomalee, has now indelibly etched its footprint on the white sands of the East Coast. The very first four star quality resort on the East Coast of the country, ChaayaBlu was also a first investment decision by the John Keells Hotels Group with the dawning of peace.

Sunhill group opens hotel in Katunayake today

Sunhill group of companies will add a 25 room hotel in Katunayake to cater mainly for the airport transit market. With the opening of this five story two star hotel it increases their room portfolio to 85. This would be the third hotel property of the group, chairman Wasantha Perera said.

This hotel will have a Chinese staffed spa restaurant to serve authentic Chine food to guests. The hotel will have a banquet hall which could accommodate 300 guests and a 100 pack conference room.

Further, the company will also add a swimming pool and a children's park as well. The total investment for the hotel would be Rs 250 million.

At present they manage a 25 room hotel in Nuwara Eliya and 35 room hotel property in Bambalapitiya.

 

Boeing crisis deepens as Dreamliners grounded worldwide

Aviation regulators on Thursday grounded most of the world's 787 Dreamliner fleet until a fire risk linked to the plane's batteries can been fixed, deepening a crisis for its US manufacturer Boeing.

Regulators in Japan, India and Chile followed the lead of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in ordering an indefinite halt to all operations, after a Japanese Dreamliner on Wednesday was forced into an emergency landing.

The FAA, which sets the benchmark for aviation standards, highlighted "a potential battery fire risk in the 787" after a suspected battery leak emerged as the focus of inquiries into the aborted All Nippon Airways flight.

Analysts said the ANA incident, following a series of safety scares involving the Dreamliner over the past week, needed careful crisis management from Boeing, which is staking its future on the next-generation plane.

The aircraft relies on battery-powered electronics rather than the hydraulics used in older planes, and Boeing says its use of lightweight composite materials is a breakthrough for airlines anxious to cut their fuel bills.

AFP