SriLankan Airlines now does its own ground handling at four airports in India, which significantly increases the visibility of the airline’s branding in India.

The familiar colours and logo of Sri Lanka’s National Carrier are now regular features on vehicles and ground service equipment at airports in Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, and Goa.

SriLankan Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer, Manoj Gunawardena, said: “Benefits from this initiative are two fold, it increases our level of customer service and it also brings in significant cost savings to the operation. It is an excellent example of how significant quality and cost benefits can be achieved by challenging the established practices.”

SriLankan, which last November became the first foreign carrier to operate 100 flights per week to India, has 33 flights to these four destinations – 15 to Chennai, 11 to Trichy, four to Coimbatore, and three to Goa. Chennai is one of SriLankan’s busiest destinations in the airline’s route network.

Nalini Fernando, who as Regional Airport Service Manager- India spearheaded the project, said: “Our decision to self-handle at selected Indian airports was undertaken towards reducing heavy operational costs & branding of SriLankan at Indian airports in a highly competitive market. Airport Service staff in SriLankan uniforms attend to every aspect of airport service duties, offering personalised service to our customers, unlike in a handling Agent environment.
This project has also resulted in significant savings on every flight to each of these 04 destinations.

Ajith Fernando, Manager Airport Service Support, said: “Our service levels and punctuality have greatly improved at these four stations. We are doing everything – over the wing and under the wing. That includes passenger, cargo and baggage handling (loading/unloading) including security handling, cabin cleaning, aircraft pushback, etc.”

SriLankan Airlines is a global award winning carrier which serves 42 cities in 21 countries.

May 22nd 2008