Newstrack

SriLankan airline eyes new destinations in India

Anupama Sushil - New Delhi

With its 11 existing destinations in India, Srilankan airlines is now looking at getting into 15 tier two cities in the country, in order to make their presence felt more strongly here.

Already being an established name, in terms serving the major southern Indian destinations, the airline feels that this is the right time for the airline to grow in India.

Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Senaka Ferenando, regional manager (Indian sub continent & Maldives), said that they already have the rights to fly into cities like Pune and Aurangabad covering the western region, along with cities like Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Gaya, Khajuraho as well as northern cities like Lucknow, Varanasi and Amritsar. Apart from this, there are four more to be added later, with Kolkatta highest in the order.

He also added that the airline wants to progress slowly, adding only one point a year, thanks to its small fleet size. By the year 2013 he said their fleet would increase to 30 aircraft, out of which 14 would enable them to operate into these cities. He further added that the long distance, the flight time ranging between five to six hours per flight to these cities, and the limited fleet is currently restricting them from taking a step forward.

Also commenting on the fleet, Sharuka Wickrama Aditiya, manager North India said there will be an equal increase in seat factor and fleet size, that will include narrow bodied and wide bodied long haul aircrafts, serving destinations like China, Africa and other regions. The airline plans to stick to Airbus aircrafts only, that would help them escape the costs of training the pilots for any other aircraft.

The leisure arm of the airlines - SriLankan holidays that continues to promote the southern Indian destinations of India to Srilankan and vice versa, is looking at a target of about 27,000 visitors into and out of Sri Lanka this year. As India is a prime market for Sri Lanka, Shayana Wijayaratne, sales and marketing manager, SriLankan Holidays said that they would keep the methodology of promoting their products only through the travel trade, as that is the best medium to promote their destinations in India. While the leisure arm already has collaborations with a few southern state tourism boards, moving of the airline into newer cities and the possibility of collaborations for destination promotions cannot be ignored.