Category: Aviation

Mar 04, 2008 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines will launch its own frequent flyer program after the Emirates ‘Skywards’ program ends with the termination of their management contract in March, the airline said. “All SriLankan Airlines’ Skywards members will continue their membership and rewards will continue to be available on Emirates flights and from other leisure […]

Feb 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan travellers reserving tickets through Emirates’ newly commissioned online booking portal, can win free win tickets until the end of March, the company said. Emirates contest website The promotion which is valid till end of March, requires travellers to book their seats on-line on Emirates operated flights. “We have […]

Feb 01, 2008 (LBO) – India’s Cochin airport said a delegation had met Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapakse and visited a site in the island’s south where it is interested in developing a new airport. Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said it had met aviation minister Chamal Rajapakse who is the president’s brother, central bank […]

Jan 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines, the island’s national carrier, has steadily increased the number of passengers in transit to 46 percent from 28 percent in 2003/04 in an attempt to make Colombo a hub for air travel, a statement by the carrier said. According to Sri Lankan, it has recorded a steady […]

Jan 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state owned budget carrier Mihin Air is promising better results this year after burning up its capital and clocking up a 1.4 billion rupee loss in the first year of operations. In a wide ranging interview with Shamindra Kulamannage from ETV’s Lanka Business Report (LBR) program Mihin chief […]

Jan 14, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s state budget carrier Mihin Air will work on a common commercial strategy with full service SriLankan Airlines, after a management deal with Emirates ends in March, a top official said. “It’s very important after March that SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka work on a common commercial strategy,” Mihin […]

Jan 10, 2007 (LBO) – A SriLankan Airlines aircraft has been damaged at Franfurt airport shortly before take off, but passengers had been housed in hotels and are being flown to Colombo on other carriers, a company spokesman said. In October 2007, another aircraft scraped the wing of a SriLankan Airlines aircraft while it was […]

Jan 09, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka was working on a transitional management structure with Emirates for national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines after the Middle Eastern airline decided not to renew its management deal, a senior government official said Wednesday. But the government had not yet decided to buy back the Middle Eastern airline’s 43.6 […]

Jan 08, 2007 (LBO) – Middle Eastern carrier Qatar Airways has played down its interest in Sri Lankan Airlines after its current managing shareholder Emirates, announced a sell out of its equity stake, reports said. Though suffering a 4.7 billion loss and badly hit by war risk insurance it managed to survive by using Maldives […]

Jan 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government will take the reigns of SriLankan Airlines after a management agreement with Emirates Airlines ends in March 2008, the head of the island’s investment promotion office said. “The president has decided that the government will run SriLankan Airlines from April,” Board of Investment chief Dhammika Perera told […]

Jan 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines is not an attractive opportunity for potential investors unless it comes with ground handling and catering, as airline operations alone were not very profitable, analysts said. (US$1=SLR 108.30) The Bloomberg newswire quoting presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga said a committee may be set up to look into options […]

Dec 22, 2007 (LBO) – Emirates Airlines, managing shareholder of SriLankan Airlines, has indicated that it is preparing for a possible breakdown in contract renewal talks over an ongoing row where its top manager has been ordered out of the island. The chief executive officer of Sri Lankan airlines, Peter Hill, an Emirates appointee has […]