[Travel]

SriLankan carries 3.2 million passengers in 2007

SriLankan Airlines carried 3.2 million passengers around its global network in 2007, an increase of more than 100,000 over the previous year.

It was the largest number of passengers carried by the airline in a calendar year since its inception in 1979.

Significant increases were recorded in all regions - Europe, India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The largest improvements were in traffic to and from Frankfurt, Bahrain, Doha, Bangkok and Singapore.

Head of Worldwide Passenger Sales Manoj Gunawardena said: Our worldwide team has achieved an excellent performance during the calendar year 2007.

We remained strong in all regions and our focus on the Indian market yielded excellent results.”

In India substantial increases were in the number of passengers carried to and from Mumbai, Calicut, Goa, Madras, and Bangalore.

SriLankan last November became the first foreign carrier to operate 100 flights per week to India and now serves 11 cities there.

During 2007 it launched services to Coimbatore and increased services to several other cities, including its double-daily service to Mumbai.

It was not an easy year since some tourists were deterred by strong travel advisories issued by key tourist generating countries.

We also faced increased competition from other carriers in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia,” said Gunawardena.

The airline’s other traditional markets continued to be rock solid, including London, Male, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Trivandrum, Trichy, and Cochin. All of the airline’s offices contributed by supporting sales efforts throughout the route network.

SriLankan wins top honours again at HR Management Awards

SriLankan Airlines was honoured with a Gold award at the Human Resource Management Awards 2007 “Super Ten” for its excellence in HR practices.

The National Carrier has continuously taken top honours at the country’s premier HR awards.

This year’s format saw 10 companies being presented Gold Awards and nine others receiving Silver Awards. Head of Human Resources at the National Carrier, Mrs. Pradeepa Dahanayake, received the award at a ceremony at the Cinnamon Grand.

Mrs. Dahanayake said: “We at SriLankan Airlines take great pride in playing a pioneering role in promoting HR Best Practices among the Corporate Sector in Sri Lanka. We are honoured to receive this accolade from the premier HR body in the country.”

“It is our firm belief that our more than 5,000 employees, whom we call the SriLankan Family, form our greatest asset and must be continuously nurtured and developed as we strive to maintain our reputation for excellence in the highly competitive global air travel industry. We have adopted a multi-faceted approach which incorporates all aspects of HR, which serves our employees from Recruitment to Retirement,” said Mrs. Dahanayake.

“We in HR strive to continuously improve our processes and strategies. The “people factor” is given top priority across our organisation. We welcome feedback and inputs from our management, other divisions and diverse employee groups, and this has immensely contributed towards improving the standards and quality of output from our division,” she said.

All Business-class long haul to fly between Singapore and USA

Singapore Airlines will convert its five Airbus A340-500 ultra-long-range aircraft into an all-Business Class configuration, for daily flights between Singapore and New York and Singapore and Los Angeles.

The current 2-class, 181 seat, arrangement will be replaced with 100 of the Airline’s new award-winning Business Class seats, in a 4-abreast, 1-2-1, layout. Each seat is upholstered in leather, and is 30 inches (76 cm) wide. The new configuration will position Singapore Airlines as the first to operate an all-Business Class service on the Transpacific route.

Every seat will have direct access to the aisle, and will convert to a fully-flat bed. The new Business Class seats are the same design as those fitted on the Airline’s A380 and B777-300ER fleet.

Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President Marketing and Regions, Huang Cheng Eng, said the change recognises the popularity from business travellers for the award-winning Business Class products introduced on other aircraft type.

“The new Business Class is being very well-received by our customers on long-range flights. The new product is the perfect fit for the ultra-long-haul services between Singapore and the USA.

“The peak demand for the non-stop flights is from our Business Class customers, and this change will expand Business Class capacity from 64 to 100 seats on each flight,” Huang said.

The implementation will be phased in gradually from mid May, 2008, on the Singapore-New York route, with daily services in the new all-Business Class arrangement to New York by end June, and Los Angeles by late September, 2008.

The program will require each of the five A340-500 aircraft to be retrofitted in turn.

Guangzhou to join Emirates network on July 1

The ancient city of Guangzhou, now China’s economic powerhouse, will join Emirates sprawling six-continent non-stop network on July 1.

Slated to play an important role in the 100-plus destinations on Emirates’ route map, Guangzhou (IATA code: CAN) will be Emirates’ fourth gateway in China, after Shanghai Beijing and Hong Kong.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group said “Guangzhou is a vital link in our strategic plans for China and the Asia-Pacific region.

The city has been on our radar for some time as it is the heartbeat of the Guangdong Province and hums with its political, socio-economic, scientific, educational and cultural life. Guangzhou serves as an air travel hub for Guangdong and the South China provinces, which significantly expands our span and reach.

The Emirates Group is no stranger to Guangzhou, as through our subsidiary in Singapore, Changi International Airport Services, we hold a 20 per cent stake in Guangzhou Balyun International Airport Handling Co., which provides ground handling services at the airport.

Starting July 1, Emirates EK362 will fly non-stop to Guangzhou four times weekly on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays with an Airbus A330-200 in a two class configuration - 27 seats in Business and 251 in Economy. Beginning October 1, Emirates will also fly the route on Fridays.

From December 1, the airline will fly daily to Guangzhou with an A340-300 aircraft in a three-class configuration - 12 seats in First 42 in Business and 213 in Economy - on six days and an A330-200 on the seventh in a three-class configuration - 12 in First, 42 in Business and 183 in Economy.