Recently had a wonderful one-on-one interaction with SriLankan Airlines India management team in Bangalore. I met the trio of Mr. V Ravindran, Regional Manager – India & Bangladesh, Mr. S P Mohan, Country Manager and Mr. Dimithra De Alwis, Area Manager – Bangalore and understood a lot of wonderful initiatives being taken by SriLankan Airlines. Read on to find out more about these initiatives.
Before that let’s watch SriLankan Airlines’ brand video ‘Serendipity Right Next Door’ which took social media by storm last week. This video unveils the timeless beauty of Sri Lanka through the narrations of two of the most beloved Sri Lankan celebrities, Jacqueline Fernandez of Bollywood fame and the cricketing legend Kumar Sangakkara. Whilst Ms. Fernandez reveals to the audience the island delights one by one, Mr. Sangakkara takes the viewer through the onboard experience of the National Carrier which symbolizes all of Sri Lanka’s beauty, culture, flavours and spirit. Have a look here!
Mr. V Ravindran, Regional Manager – India & Bangladesh mentioned SriLankan Airlines is looking to start operations from Ahmedabad and Calicut to the beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka, as the new aircraft, an Airbus, is added to their fleet. This should happen by the end of 2020.
There is also going to be an increase in frequency from existing cities like Kolkata, Coimbatore and Hyderabad as SriLankan Airlines has already placed orders for two Airbuses, a wide-bodied A-331 that will be used for longer routes (above 4 hours of flying time) and a narrow-bodied A-320 for shorter routes (less than 4 hours). The latter will primarily help service operations from India.
SriLankan Airlines also offers timely and affordable connections to Melbourne and Sydney via Colombo where many tourists are also encourage to spend a couple of nights to explore the beautiful island nation.
With around 124 weekly flights from around 11 Indian destinations, SriLankan Airlines places special emphasis on special vegetarian and Jain meals in Sri Lankan cuisine which are available for pre-order.
The trio also mentioned the great news that SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, won the prestigious ‘World’s Leading Airline to the Indian Ocean’ title once again at the Grand Final Gala Ceremony of World Travel Awards, in Muscat, Oman recently.
SriLankan Airlines is promoting wild life too as they have joined the Department of Wildlife Conservation Sri Lanka on their expedition to capture Sri Lanka’s top 7 wild animals in photography.
It’s also great to know that SriLankan Airlines has been supporting the launch of the free visa on arrival facility that the Government of Sri Lanka is providing to citizens of 48 countries in Australasia, Europe and North America since 1st August 2019, as part of a concerted effort to boost tourism into the Indian Ocean island nation.
From Bangalore, more than 50% of people who visit are MICE tourists who go for conferences and events. There is increase in people who are looking at Sri Lanka as a leisure destination too. Over all, SriLankan Airlines is a wonderful and affordable option in full service airline carriers to the island nation.
