10 NEWS SriLankan
10 NEWS SriLankan Airlines, Welcome to Oneworld Kapila Chandrasena, Director, Chief Executive Officer, SriLankan Airlines reveals his company’s roadmap SriLankan Airlines invited journalists to the luxurious Hotel de Rome in Berlin on ITB-Thursday 6 th March 2014, to announce important news both for Sri Lanka’s national airline and for the aviation industry in general. SriLankan Airlines received clearance to join oneworld, as the first carrier from the Indian subcontinent to become part of any global airline alliance. SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe and oneworld’s VP of Corporate Communications Michael Blunt officially announced that SriLankan Airlines would become a full member of oneworld from Thursday 1 st May 2014. In an exclusive interview, ITB Berlin News spoke to Kapila Chandrasena, Director, Chief Executive Officer, SriLankan Airlines, and asked him how his company is working to keep up with the increase in traffic generated by the new tourism boom in Sri Lanka… SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka has been playing vital role in the new tourism boom the country is experiencing presently. In terms of tourist arrivals, the currently identified highest growth markets are “India”, “China”, “Middle East”, “Russia” and also “Australia.” These numbers have been achieved through targeted promotional campaigns conducted by the Tourism Promotional Bureau of Sri Lanka. SriLankan, as the national airline, while actively taking part in these promotional activities, has also identified the potential markets and expanded our reach to these regions. One way of doing that is through codeshare agreements with other carriers on the identified routes such as our latest agreements with S7 Airlines and Malaysia Airlines on the routes; Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk in Russia and Sydney, Perth, SRILANKAN AIRLINES, RENOWNED FOR ITS AWARD WINNING INFLIGHT SERVICE AND HOSPITALITY WILL BE THE FIRST AIRLINE IN THE SUB-CONTINENT TO JOIN ANY OF THE GLOBAL AIRLINE ALLIANCES Brisbane and Adelaide in Australia, respectively. As the national carrier, we go by the tagline- fly to Sri Lanka on SriLankan, which means experiencing the traditional Sri Lankan warmth and hospitality right from the beginning of your holiday. Please tell us about your expansion plans. SriLankan Airlines will replace its current fleet of A340s with six fuel efficient A330-300s and four latest generation A350-900 aircraft starting from this year. Operating with a new fleet will enable the airline to further upgrade the product which will in return, enhance the travel experience with SriLankan. With the increasing customer demands, SriLankan has started to operate direct flights to China instead of its operation via Bangkok. We are also looking at two more secondary destinations such as Kunming and Chengdu. SriLankan is also looking at improving network efficiency, while developing Colombo as the centre and the country’s second airport, Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport as a secondary hub. This year, you join oneworld alliance. What will that bring to your customers? By joining Oneworld, SriLankan will be flying alongside some of the biggest and premier brands in the airline business. SriLankan Airlines, renowned for its award winning inflight service and hospitality will be the first airline in the subcontinent to join any of the global airline alliances, thus enabling the flagship carrier of Sri Lanka to offer its customers more services and benefits: such as a wider route network, opportunities to earn and Kapila Chandrasena Director, Chief Executive Officer, SriLankan Airlines redeem frequent flyer miles on any one of the oneworld carriers. Similarly, the 130 million frequent flyer cardholders of Oneworld’s member airlines will be able to earn and redeem rewards on SriLankan. Members of SriLankan Airlines’ FlySmiLes frequent flyer programme will enjoy privileges and benefits throughout the oneworld network, including, for top tier members, access to 550 plus airport lounges worldwide. SriLankan will also be part of oneworld’s most extensive ranges of alliance fares. How important is ITB Berlin in terms of fostering new business for your airline? We view ITB Berlin as a great opportunity to meet new operators who currently do not feature our product destinations- Colombo and Male- and encourage them to include these destinations along with their other products. We have been participating at ITB Berlin for nearly two decades. It has been a knowledge sharing platform where we have drawn inspiration while seeking mileage for our product. Our objective of attending ITB Berlin is that through such a forum we have a great opportunity to mark our presence and promote Sri Lanka as a destination and SriLankan as a carrier. ITB BERLIN NEWS • Tuesday 18 th March 2014 www.itb-berlin-news.com
NEWS 11 The Sri Lankan stand takes home third prize among Asian exhibitors © Messe Berlin Sri Lanka Candidate to be ITB Berlin Partner Country Sri Lankan tourism authorities announce intention to bid for candidature as partner country 2016 At an ITB Berlin Press Conference, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Sarrath Kongahage hinted that the country was planning to be a candidate as partner country for the 2016 event. The candidature process for the role of partner country is based on a number of criteria, and several countries’ DMOs postulate each year. The bid will have no doubt received a welcome push as the Cologne Business School selected the Sri Lankan stand as one of the three best Asian exhibitors. Rumy Lauffer, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said, “Our stand has a very natural atmosphere and is perfect. ITB Berlin 2014 was the ideal platform for our large delegation of 64 tourism companies, hotels and organisations. We are happy and the future looks bright.” Sri Lanka’s Director- General of Tourism, Dr D. S. Jayaweera, announced at ITB Berlin that his nation is aiming to generate revenues in excess of US.2 billion from tourism in 2016, by attracting 2.5 million arrivals - more than a 50% increase on revenue and arrivals in 2013. Already the 2013 figure was a 26.7% hike over the previous year. Dr Jayaweera predicted the tourism industry would provide over 500,000 direct employment opportunities by 2016, thanks to a boost in hotel capacity from the current 16,600 rooms to 40,000 by the end of 2015. H.E. Sarrath Kongahage told ITB Berlin News, “The story we are telling is that of the most strongly emerging tourism market, underlined by major travel magazines that have been highlighting this fact. An example was Lonely Planet, which named Sri Lanka as the ‘Best Destination’ in 2013. In 2011, the Sunday Times declared Sri Lanka as the number one ‘value for money’ destination, and the New York Times named our nation as the best destination in 2010. National Geographic Channel also described Sri Lanka as one of the top global destinations for tourism. All in all, we ITB BERLIN 2014 WAS THE IDEAL PLATFORM FOR OUR LARGE DELEGATION OF 64 TOURISM COMPANIES, HOTELS AND ORGANISATIONS are considered broadly as one of the top few tourism destinations in the world today.” Mr Kongahage continued, “Some people might think that Sri Lanka is like the tip of India. But the country is vastly different from any other in the region. The landscape is different, the culture is different... and with history dating back thousands of years we have no less that eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. Furthermore, it is important to underline the fact that Sri Lanka has the fastest growing economy in the region.” ITB BERLIN NEWS • Tuesday 18 th March 2014
