Message from SriLankan Airlines Country Manager
Message from SriLankan Airlines Country Manager
SriLankan Airlines is pleased to be of service to Indonesia and has been a long-standing member of the Jakarta community.
Our operating schedule has changed over the years but in the year 2000 we took a conscious decision to increase our presence in Indonesia, adding 50 percent more capacity with the introduction of our third weekly flight.
To further meet the needs of our customers, one flight operates to Colombo via Singapore while the other two fly direct from Jakarta to Colombo.
Our Colombo services are geared toward both leisure and corporate travelers, and we have excellent connections to other destinations on our route networks in Europe, the Middle East, India and the Maldives.
All Indonesian services are operated with state-of-the-art, wide-bodied Airbus A330s and A340s, and all flights feature in- seat video entertainment systems in both the business and economy class cabins.
Sri Lanka is at the beginning of a major tourism growth cycle, with harmony returned to the country mainly due to the success of the peace talks, now one year old. The year 2002 was a record year for SriLankan Airlines and we recorded the largest ever number of Indonesians visiting solely for tourism purposes. We are gearing up for an increase in the number of tourist arrivals and this year are offering no less than 37 choices of touring options through our Indonesian travel agency partners.
We also believe we have assisted the Indonesian community by bringing foreign tourists to Indonesia. The year 2002 saw a dramatic increase in Indian tourist arrivals and this is an area we plan to further cultivate in 2003.
SriLankan Airlines, formerly Air Lanka, is now a revitalized flag carrier after privatization, when Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, become a major shareholder. After our re-branding, SriLankan Airlines has won numerous service quality awards.
In fact, we just received the TTG Asia award as the Best Airline in South Asia. We are proud of this and our many other awards, but our goal is to become the best airline in South East Asia and we will not rest until our dream is a reality.
We are the first to realize that consumer loyalty cannot be purchased, as some other airlines seem to believe possible, and therefore we are resolved in our mission to offer quality services at affordable prices.
As the SriLankan Airlines brand continues to mature we will continue to grow, and we hope that in the not too distant future we will be able to advise you of a fourth weekly flight to Jakarta.
Lakshman Weerasooriya Country Manager - Indonesia SriLankan Airlines