SriLankan Airlines wins Singapore award for growth

SriLankan Airlines has won the award for Top Airline by Growth in Passenger Carriage (South Asia) from Singapore's Changi Airport for the highest growth in traffic to Singapore from the region in 2009.

SriLankan's Head of Worldwide Sales Mohamed Fazeel said, "SriLankan Airlines is delighted to receive this honour as proof of our status as a valued partner for the tourism industries of both Singapore and Sri Lanka.

SriLankan’s Country Manager, Singapore, Mohan Meegolle is congratulated by Changi Airports Group Director, Market Development, Lim Ching Kiat.

While inter-regional travel from traditional markets such as Europe remains important, SriLankan Airlines fully comprehends the tremendous potential for growth within Asia itself, driven by the insatiable appetite for travel among the fast-growing middle-classes in Southeast Asia, South Asia and China.

Just weeks ago in neighbouring Malaysia, SriLankan Airlines was named the Best Airline Operator from South Asia for the fifth consecutive year at the annual KLIA Awards which honours contributions to Malaysia's travel and tourism industry.

SriLankan was also last month named Airline of the Year at Sri Lanka's Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism 2009 for the second consecutive time.

Travel between Singapore and Sri Lanka has grown by 55 percent in the first six months of 2010.

SriLankan's leisure arm SriLankan Holidays also works in close partnership with Singapore's tourism authority to promote it as a destination.

SriLankan's Country Manager - Singapore, Mohan Meegolle, said "Singapore is one of the most important hubs for SriLankan Airlines global operations, to which we have been operating since the inception of our airline in 1979.

Over the past year we have been promoting travel to Singapore and through Singapore, not only from Sri Lanka, but also from many other regions, carrying out awareness programs in cities such as Jakarta.

Changi Airports Group Director, Market Development, Lim Ching Kiat congratulated SriLankan on its win. Lim said, "SriLankan Airlines saw strong traffic growth to Singapore in 2009 and we look forward to working closely with SriLankan, as part of the Changi Airport Growth Initiative, to further develop their operations at Changi."

SriLankan, which on July 1 launched a new service to Shanghai, has a global route network of 49 destinations in 31 countries.

The airline recently significantly upgraded its on-board services, comforts, meal services, beverages and facilities, vowing to 'Change the way we fly, and the way our customers experience travel'.

SriLankan connects Singapore with 10 weekly flights from Colombo, a service that is highly popular among Sri Lanka's leisure travellers, businessmen, students bound for higher education in Singapore, and also Indian travellers catching connecting flights from South Indian cities such as Chennai, Trichy and Trivandrum.