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SriLankan Airlines
Asia’s rising starApril 1998 heralded a new era in the history of Sri Lankan civil aviation when its flag carrier, Air Lanka, was privatised following the establishment of a strategic partnership with Dubai based Emirates Airline. The agreement, in which the United Arab Emirates airline took a 40% shareholding in the company, was the regenerative boost that was urgently needed to re-establish Air Lanka as southern Asia’s preferred international carrier. This was crucial as throughout the previous decade investment had been minimal - a factor that had retarded growth and taken away the airline’s competitive edge.
As part of its commitment to the Sri Lankan government Emirates contracted to undertake the management of Air Lanka for a 10-year period, during which time it would establish programmes to stimulate renewed growth and profitability. Primary among these considerations was the development of Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, as a major passenger and cargo hub linking east and west.
The business plan put forward by Emirates centred on the appointment of a new board of directors drawn from the Sri Lankan government and Emirates Airline. Pertinent to this the chief executive officer (CEO) was to be seconded from Emirates. To help achieve its objective of raising Air Lanka’s profit margin, a thorough overhaul and analysis of the airline’s infrastructure was completed. This resulted in Air Lanka adopting a whole new approach to airline operation. Cost-effective strategies were introduced; new pro-active management teams were put in place; computer technology became the basis of everyday activities; a reappraisal of the airline’s network was made; product enhancement became part of airline philosophy, and a fleet renewal programme was activated. But to raise awareness and underline its new ideals the airline set into motion a re-branding programme.
The perceived success of the business plan was, to a great extent, based on the acquisition of six new fuel efficient, easy to maintain, passenger friendly Airbus A330-200s to complement its fleet of A340-300 and A320-200 aircraft. The first A330-200 joined the airline in October 1999, with the remaining five delivered by July 2000. That same year saw Air Lanka’s last L1011 TriStar sold to Air Transit (Canada) but perhaps more momentus, in July 1999, the company’s fourth A340-300 arrived at Colombo painted in the airline’s new corporate livery. SriLankan Airlines was now on view to the world.
As part of its product enhancement programme SriLankan upgraded its existing A340 fleet into two-class configuration - business and economy. At the same time the interior décor and seats were refurbished to reflect the airline’s new corporate image and the inflight entertainment systems were improved to match those of the new A330s. The A320 short-haul fleet also underwent an interior modernisation programme.
Apart from its cosmetic differences the SriLankan Airlines fleet, which now ranks among the most luxurious and well equipped in the world, is also one of the most efficient. Fleet compatibility has reduced maintenance and training costs, Rolls-Royce Trent and CFM56 engines give minimum fuel consumption on long-haul sectors, cargo uplift has increased, and the high quality of the products on offer is encouraging a growing number of passengers to fly SriLankan Airlines.
Promoting Sri Lanka
Because of its geographical location and the nature of the country Sri Lanka is energetically promoting itself as a destination of many facets, most of which it believes will appeal to people from many walks of life. SriLankan recognises the importance of tourism to its country and is adamant that once people have experienced the island they will return time-and-time again, and because of this belief is deeply committed to persuading its passengers to visit Sri Lanka.
Holidays and stopover packages feature strongly in SriLankan’s bid to bring more people to its country. The airline regards Sri Lanka as being equidistant between Europe and the Far East and says it is the ideal place for passengers - whether travelling east or west - to take a break. From Colombo stopover tours of one day or more are available, with packages tailored to appreciate the country’s historical sites and ancient monuments, visit the hill capital of Kandy and admire the magnificent Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya. Others call at tea plantations, offer jeep safaris to Yala National Park – home of elephant, leopard, sloth bear and wild buffalo – or allow visitors to spend a few hours at the Pinnawela orphaned elephant sanctuary before returning to Colombo for the shopping experience of a lifetime. Alternatively spending a couple of days at a luxury beachfront hotel, relaxing on a pristine white beach, drinking ice-cold cocktails and enjoying the long hours of warm sunshine might be more appealing.
Sporting activities are integral to Sri Lankan life and the airline is involved in the promotion of international golf, cricket and rugby tournaments, the International Rugby Sevens being recognised as a world event.
On the theme of bringing visitors to Sri Lanka, business travellers are by no means neglected. SriLankan is fully committed to promoting Meeting, Incentive Tour, Conference, Exhibition, (MICE) special events. For those companies who select Sri Lanka for their MICE gatherings, the national carrier offers attractive fare rates, overseas promotions, group check-in, distribution of promotional material, reconfirmation facilities, and inflight welcome announcements. Sri Lanka is definitely a very affordable convention centre destination.
Regular travellers flying SriLankan, Emirates, and their partner airlines, can take advantage of Skywards, a loyalty scheme, which allows frequent flyers to amass Skywards Miles and benefit from the hundreds of reward flights available. Also included in the programme are selected airline, hotel, car rental, financial services and holiday partners. Membership of Skywards has many privileges including priority check-in, flight upgrades, lounge access and family bonus miles.
The increasing popularity of Sri Lanka, due in no small way to strong promotional campaigns by SriLankan in Europe has resulted in it recording very heavy load factors on these schedules, but particularly out of London. Because of demand the frequency of services on this high-density route has been increased, with two routed via Male (Maldives) each week. SriLankan approached the Maldivian government to fly into Male and now operates direct services to Male from London, Paris, Zurich and Tokyo. Such has been the success of the Male routing that new schedules from other destinations are being considered.
SriLankan’s efforts in regenerating itself as a major Asian carrier have not gone unnoticed and it has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards. In March 2003 the Skytrax Research Agency’s worldwide passenger survey voted SriLankan, for the third consecutive time, Best Airline of the Year for Central Asia. Further, in that same year TTG(Asia) voted SriLankan Best Airline in South Asia. In 2001 the UK’s Wanderlust magazine placed SriLankan eighth in its Top Major Airlines travel award category. This latter achievement was all the more satisfying as these awards are normally presented to the world’s larger airline operators.
New services
Enlightened route management is playing a vital role in SriLankan achieving its objective of attaining the airline industry’s specified profit level. Non-cost effective schedules have been withdrawn and new routes that offer prospects of growth and profitability have, and still are, being initiated. In this context SriLankan is aiming, as well as developing business traffic, to maximise its short-haul tourist travel from the Indian sub-continent to Sri Lanka.
Driving this campaign is the hard financial fact that relative to India the cost of holidays in Sri Lanka are considerably less expensive, and with most flights from India taking no more than 90 minutes to reach Sri Lanka, the opportunities presented are enormous. Weekend schedules are already benefiting as travel to the island’s competitively priced beach resorts is already increasing.
Pivotal to SriLankan’s growing success is its belief that the government should try to attract ‘quality’ carriers back to Sri Lanka. With the peace process firmly established in the country, Sri Lanka is being ‘re-discovered’ by higher spending tourists, which in turn is improving yields. More specialist tour operators are beginning to promote the unique delights of Sri Lanka, which should encourage some European scheduled airlines to consider resuming flights to Colombo.
SriLankan, at this stage of its development, has no interest in joining an airline ‘alliance’ and is quite happy to continue working in partnership with Emirates, which has now upped its stake in the airline to 43%.
SriLankan is now firmly on course to reach its set target, but ultimately its aim is to generate manageable levels of growth and consistent profitability, objectives that can only be attained by continuously, and cost-efficiently, improving its product. CEO Peter Hill says that despite operating in a difficult economic and very competitive climate SriLankan has proved, without doubt, that a strongly managed airline with innovative and visionary ideas can succeed whatever the odds. And who better to know than the man guiding the fortunes of South Asia’s Best Airline of the Year?
As part of its commitment to the Sri Lankan government Emirates contracted to undertake the management of Air Lanka for a 10-year period, during which time it would establish programmes to stimulate renewed growth and profitability. Primary among these considerations was the development of Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, as a major passenger and cargo hub linking east and west.
The business plan put forward by Emirates centred on the appointment of a new board of directors drawn from the Sri Lankan government and Emirates Airline. Pertinent to this the chief executive officer (CEO) was to be seconded from Emirates. To help achieve its objective of raising Air Lanka’s profit margin, a thorough overhaul and analysis of the airline’s infrastructure was completed. This resulted in Air Lanka adopting a whole new approach to airline operation. Cost-effective strategies were introduced; new pro-active management teams were put in place; computer technology became the basis of everyday activities; a reappraisal of the airline’s network was made; product enhancement became part of airline philosophy, and a fleet renewal programme was activated. But to raise awareness and underline its new ideals the airline set into motion a re-branding programme.
The perceived success of the business plan was, to a great extent, based on the acquisition of six new fuel efficient, easy to maintain, passenger friendly Airbus A330-200s to complement its fleet of A340-300 and A320-200 aircraft. The first A330-200 joined the airline in October 1999, with the remaining five delivered by July 2000. That same year saw Air Lanka’s last L1011 TriStar sold to Air Transit (Canada) but perhaps more momentus, in July 1999, the company’s fourth A340-300 arrived at Colombo painted in the airline’s new corporate livery. SriLankan Airlines was now on view to the world.
As part of its product enhancement programme SriLankan upgraded its existing A340 fleet into two-class configuration - business and economy. At the same time the interior décor and seats were refurbished to reflect the airline’s new corporate image and the inflight entertainment systems were improved to match those of the new A330s. The A320 short-haul fleet also underwent an interior modernisation programme.
Apart from its cosmetic differences the SriLankan Airlines fleet, which now ranks among the most luxurious and well equipped in the world, is also one of the most efficient. Fleet compatibility has reduced maintenance and training costs, Rolls-Royce Trent and CFM56 engines give minimum fuel consumption on long-haul sectors, cargo uplift has increased, and the high quality of the products on offer is encouraging a growing number of passengers to fly SriLankan Airlines.
Promoting Sri Lanka
Because of its geographical location and the nature of the country Sri Lanka is energetically promoting itself as a destination of many facets, most of which it believes will appeal to people from many walks of life. SriLankan recognises the importance of tourism to its country and is adamant that once people have experienced the island they will return time-and-time again, and because of this belief is deeply committed to persuading its passengers to visit Sri Lanka.
Holidays and stopover packages feature strongly in SriLankan’s bid to bring more people to its country. The airline regards Sri Lanka as being equidistant between Europe and the Far East and says it is the ideal place for passengers - whether travelling east or west - to take a break. From Colombo stopover tours of one day or more are available, with packages tailored to appreciate the country’s historical sites and ancient monuments, visit the hill capital of Kandy and admire the magnificent Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya. Others call at tea plantations, offer jeep safaris to Yala National Park – home of elephant, leopard, sloth bear and wild buffalo – or allow visitors to spend a few hours at the Pinnawela orphaned elephant sanctuary before returning to Colombo for the shopping experience of a lifetime. Alternatively spending a couple of days at a luxury beachfront hotel, relaxing on a pristine white beach, drinking ice-cold cocktails and enjoying the long hours of warm sunshine might be more appealing.
Sporting activities are integral to Sri Lankan life and the airline is involved in the promotion of international golf, cricket and rugby tournaments, the International Rugby Sevens being recognised as a world event.
On the theme of bringing visitors to Sri Lanka, business travellers are by no means neglected. SriLankan is fully committed to promoting Meeting, Incentive Tour, Conference, Exhibition, (MICE) special events. For those companies who select Sri Lanka for their MICE gatherings, the national carrier offers attractive fare rates, overseas promotions, group check-in, distribution of promotional material, reconfirmation facilities, and inflight welcome announcements. Sri Lanka is definitely a very affordable convention centre destination.
Regular travellers flying SriLankan, Emirates, and their partner airlines, can take advantage of Skywards, a loyalty scheme, which allows frequent flyers to amass Skywards Miles and benefit from the hundreds of reward flights available. Also included in the programme are selected airline, hotel, car rental, financial services and holiday partners. Membership of Skywards has many privileges including priority check-in, flight upgrades, lounge access and family bonus miles.
The increasing popularity of Sri Lanka, due in no small way to strong promotional campaigns by SriLankan in Europe has resulted in it recording very heavy load factors on these schedules, but particularly out of London. Because of demand the frequency of services on this high-density route has been increased, with two routed via Male (Maldives) each week. SriLankan approached the Maldivian government to fly into Male and now operates direct services to Male from London, Paris, Zurich and Tokyo. Such has been the success of the Male routing that new schedules from other destinations are being considered.
SriLankan’s efforts in regenerating itself as a major Asian carrier have not gone unnoticed and it has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards. In March 2003 the Skytrax Research Agency’s worldwide passenger survey voted SriLankan, for the third consecutive time, Best Airline of the Year for Central Asia. Further, in that same year TTG(Asia) voted SriLankan Best Airline in South Asia. In 2001 the UK’s Wanderlust magazine placed SriLankan eighth in its Top Major Airlines travel award category. This latter achievement was all the more satisfying as these awards are normally presented to the world’s larger airline operators.
New services
Enlightened route management is playing a vital role in SriLankan achieving its objective of attaining the airline industry’s specified profit level. Non-cost effective schedules have been withdrawn and new routes that offer prospects of growth and profitability have, and still are, being initiated. In this context SriLankan is aiming, as well as developing business traffic, to maximise its short-haul tourist travel from the Indian sub-continent to Sri Lanka.
Driving this campaign is the hard financial fact that relative to India the cost of holidays in Sri Lanka are considerably less expensive, and with most flights from India taking no more than 90 minutes to reach Sri Lanka, the opportunities presented are enormous. Weekend schedules are already benefiting as travel to the island’s competitively priced beach resorts is already increasing.
Pivotal to SriLankan’s growing success is its belief that the government should try to attract ‘quality’ carriers back to Sri Lanka. With the peace process firmly established in the country, Sri Lanka is being ‘re-discovered’ by higher spending tourists, which in turn is improving yields. More specialist tour operators are beginning to promote the unique delights of Sri Lanka, which should encourage some European scheduled airlines to consider resuming flights to Colombo.
SriLankan, at this stage of its development, has no interest in joining an airline ‘alliance’ and is quite happy to continue working in partnership with Emirates, which has now upped its stake in the airline to 43%.
SriLankan is now firmly on course to reach its set target, but ultimately its aim is to generate manageable levels of growth and consistent profitability, objectives that can only be attained by continuously, and cost-efficiently, improving its product. CEO Peter Hill says that despite operating in a difficult economic and very competitive climate SriLankan has proved, without doubt, that a strongly managed airline with innovative and visionary ideas can succeed whatever the odds. And who better to know than the man guiding the fortunes of South Asia’s Best Airline of the Year?
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