Category: Shipping and Transport

August 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government doctors have ordered more than two hundred luxury sports utility vehicles as a scheme to give duty-slashed vehicles to state workers gets under way. So far 1,200 applications for vehicles have been processed in a scheme to give 25,000 duty slashed vehicles to senior government workers, ETV’s […]

August 08, 2007 (LBO) –Sri Lanka’s airports authority has awarded the cleaning and facility management contract for the Banaranaike International Airport (BIA) to Sinar Malship Lanka, the company announced Wednesday. Sinar Malship Lanka, formed under the Board of Investment in collaboration with Malaysia’s Sinar Jernih, adopts British Institute of Cleaning Science methods to comply with […]

August 06, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port’s state-owned container terminal plans to add more berths for feeder vessels in an effort to improve productivity and reduce congestion caused by growing cargo flows and tighter security. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) will introduce four new feeder berths for the smaller container vessels that call at […]

August 7, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s auto market is slowing with new vehicles registrations slumping 30 percent in the June quarter, a top vehicle distributor has said. Associate Motorways (AMW) a listed firm which has the agency to Nissan of Japan and Suzuki Maruti of India said consolidated after tax profits of the group […]

August 03, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is seeking an investor for Colombo’s new container terminal who can increase cargo volumes and improve cash flow, a senior official said. SLPA chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said the technical bids for the infrastructure work and first box terminal in the new South Port are […]

July 25, 2007 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines has started to serve a popular ice cream brand of the island on its flights to India as part of a strategy to boost the variety foods on its flights, the national carrier said. The short-haul flights to India are a key spoke in the carrier’s international network […]

July 24, 2007 (LBO) – Tough security measures at Colombo harbour are causing delays both on the sea side as well as the land side, prompting port customers to take up the matter with the authorities. Shipping line executives and shippers say they do not mind the tough security measures put in place to thwart […]

July 20, (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters and importers have called for a regulator to monitor the pricing practices of shipping lines, as freight rates move up and exporters are hit with fees outside the quoted rates. Jayanath Perera, outgoing chairman of the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council, industry body representing firms engaged in international trade, […]

July 19, 2007 (AFP) – Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said Thursday that it was pulling out of Sri Lanka, citing a sharp drop in tourist traffic to the tropical island due to ongoing fighting between government and rebel forces. Sri Lanka’s 26-billion-dollar economy earned 130.8 million dollars from tourism between January and April, a 15 […]

July 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airline’s consolidated after tax profits dived 50 percent to 862.1 million in the year ended March 2007 the carrier said, as tourists shied off the war ravaged island and fuel costs climbed . . “The largest single factor that affected the airline’s bottom-line was the return to hostilities […]

July 11, 2007 (AFP) – An Etihad Airways plane en route from Indonesia to the United Arab Emirates made an emergency landing in Sri Lanka Wednesday following a bomb scare, an airport official said. Flight EY-471 from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi was diverted to Colombo and checked by police commandos and bomb disposal units, the […]

July 10, 2007 (LBO) – SriLankan airlines will fly only during daytime till mid-September, to ensure that connections are available to other airlines and insurance fees are negotiated, the airline said Tuesday. “This has ensured that travel to Sri Lanka was facilitated without any significant interruption or reduction in capacity,” he said. “SriLankan Airlines is […]