SriLankan Airlines is gearing to go to Africa, Soon to Australia

Sunday Times had a discussion with Mr. Kapila Chandrasena, CEO of Sri Lankan Air Lines. We may be able to have direct Sri Lankan Air Lines flight to Colombo from Melbourne soon!

SriLankan Airlines is gearing to go to Africa, in a bid to leverage on Chinese transit passengers via Colombo, officials said.

“We’re looking to go to Africa primarily to support the Chinese transit passengers there,” Kapila Chandrasena, CEO SriLankan told the Business Times.

He said they are eyeing the broader Asian region for further expansion. “We want to expand in China and Australia ‘rapidly,” he said, adding that December will see them fly to Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, China and Melbourne is on the cards. According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), the highest growth in the air transport will be centered mainly around the Asia Pacific region, fuelled by India and China. “This is why we aim our future expansions in the Asian region,” Mr. Chandrasena said, reiterating that this move will fetch critical mass into the airline.
He added that more than a year since last June, SriLankan has seen over a 10 per cent in yield. “At the same time we also saw higher budgeted expense growth due to high fuel cost, but the new wide bodied aircraft will facilitate fuel efficiency,” he said. Stressing that the biggest necessity now is to replace A340s and A200s as they’re ending their airframe life, Mr. Chandrasena said this is why the airline will source six A330-300s and four A350-900s in the next 10 years. “We chose the A330 and the latest generation A350 XWB aircraft as part of our long-haul fleet renewal. Three more A350s are to be sourced from the leasing market.” He said the carrier is awaiting the first A330-300s from October 2014 onwards and will phase out the 18-year-old and fuel inefficient A340s.

By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera, Business Times
Source & Credits : sundaytimes.lk