Mar 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines had carried 3.2 million passengers in 2007, up 100,000 from the previous year making it the largest volume of passengers it had carried since its creation in 1979, the airline said.
The biggest improvements were in traffic to and from Frankfurt, Bahrain, Doha, Bangkok, and Singapore.
"We remained strong in all regions, and our focus on the Indian market yielded excellent results," Manoj Gunawardena, head of the airline's worldwide passenger sales said in a statement.
In India big increases were seen in the number of passengers carried to and from Mumbai, Calicut, Goa, Madras, and Bangalore.
SriLankan last November became the first foreign carrier to operate 100 flights per week to India and now serves 11 cities there.
SriLankan's aggressive foray into India was spearheaded by its management under Dubai's Emirates Airlines, which is ending at the end of this month.
A 40 percent stake in the airline then known as AirLanka was sold to Emirates in 1998 who re-branded it as SriLankan.
In the 1998 financial year ending in March, the airline carried 1.2 million passengers. By 2006 SriLankan was carrying 3.0 million passengers.
During 2007 it launched services to Coimbatore and increased services to several other cities, including a double-daily service to Mumbai.
"It was not an easy year since some tourists were deterred by strong travel advisories issued by key tourist generating countries," Gunewardene said.
"We also faced increased competition from other carriers in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia."
SriLankan said "significant increases" were recorded in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
"Apart from carrying travellers to and from Sri Lanka, the airline has focused on turning Colombo into a hub in the region, connecting East and West and serving as the gateway to India," SriLankan said.
The airline's other markets, including London, Male, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Trivandrum, Trichy, and Cochin was steady.
Services to Coimbatore and Jeddah which were launched in 2007 were performing up to expectations.
Sri Lankan says it has won an award for being the world’s most efficient operator of Airbus A330s in the small fleet category.
The biggest improvements were in traffic to and from Frankfurt, Bahrain, Doha, Bangkok, and Singapore.
"We remained strong in all regions, and our focus on the Indian market yielded excellent results," Manoj Gunawardena, head of the airline's worldwide passenger sales said in a statement.
In India big increases were seen in the number of passengers carried to and from Mumbai, Calicut, Goa, Madras, and Bangalore.
SriLankan last November became the first foreign carrier to operate 100 flights per week to India and now serves 11 cities there.
SriLankan's aggressive foray into India was spearheaded by its management under Dubai's Emirates Airlines, which is ending at the end of this month.
A 40 percent stake in the airline then known as AirLanka was sold to Emirates in 1998 who re-branded it as SriLankan.
In the 1998 financial year ending in March, the airline carried 1.2 million passengers. By 2006 SriLankan was carrying 3.0 million passengers.
During 2007 it launched services to Coimbatore and increased services to several other cities, including a double-daily service to Mumbai.
"It was not an easy year since some tourists were deterred by strong travel advisories issued by key tourist generating countries," Gunewardene said.
"We also faced increased competition from other carriers in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia."
SriLankan said "significant increases" were recorded in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
"Apart from carrying travellers to and from Sri Lanka, the airline has focused on turning Colombo into a hub in the region, connecting East and West and serving as the gateway to India," SriLankan said.
The airline's other markets, including London, Male, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Trivandrum, Trichy, and Cochin was steady.
Services to Coimbatore and Jeddah which were launched in 2007 were performing up to expectations.
Sri Lankan says it has won an award for being the world’s most efficient operator of Airbus A330s in the small fleet category.
