Air Lanka was set up by the Sri Lankan Government in July 1979 following the collapse of Air Ceylon in 1978. Air Lanka operated two Boeing 707s which were leased from Singapore Airlines. During the 1980s, the airline increased the number of destinations it serviced and made additions to its fleet. From the beginning of 1990, Air Lanka's network included a total of 26 destinations. In December 1992 the airline purchased its first
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Airbus A320. Air Lanka, which was state owned, was part-privatized to the Dubai based Emirates airline. Emirates and the Sri Lankan Government signed an agreement for a ten year strategic partnership. This agreement would include exclusive rights for all ground handling and airline catering at Bandaranaike International Airport for a ten year period. Emirates bought a 40% stake worth US$70 million (later increased to 43.6%) in Air Lanka, and sought to refurbish the airline's image and fleet.
The Government retained the majority of the stake in the airline but gave full control to Emirates for investments and management decisions which saw the introduction of Peter Hill as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In 1998, the Air Lanka brand was retired and SriLankan airlines was born.
SriLankan acquired six Airbus A330-200s to complement its fleet of A340-300 and A320-200 aircraft. The A330-200s joined the airline between October 1999 and July 2000. The company’s fourth A340-300 arrived at Colombo painted in the airline’s new corporate livery.
SriLankan upgraded its existing A340 fleet into a two-class configuration (business and economy) whilst also overhauling the interior to reflect the new corporate image.
SriLankan has suffered from many environmental factors and terrorism. These have included SARS, the Asian Tsunami, a civil war within Sri Lanka and a terrorist attack which destroyed four aircraft and damaged two, writing off half of its fleet. The airline then took the decision to recreate Colombo as a new hub for flights to Asia. An example of this is the expansion into regional markets such as India. It is now the largest foreign carrier into India with 90 flights a week to 10 destinations.
New Lounge at SriLankan's HubWhilst continuing expansion in the region, SriLankan has announced flights to Jeddah, its third destination in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Dammam. Jeddah would be the airline's 51st destination in 28 countries and this would increase to nine the number of destinations in the Middle East and would commence by the end of November 2006.
SriLankan's desirability has increased with passengers with the upgrade of its hub, the Bandaranaike International Airport. These upgrades have included eight new gates complete with passenger airbridges; eliminating the need for taking a coach to the aircraft, two new special lounges, new duty-free shopping, immigration areas and baggage reclaim areas.
The cabin crew's uniform has remained unchanged since its inauguration with Air Lanka. The stewardesses' uniform is a Kandyan-style saree in green with a peacock feather print. The stewards' uniform is a red/maroon jacket, white shirt and black trousers. |
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