SriLankan Airlines' Cargo Centre at the Bandaranaike International Airport handled an all-time high 146,883 metric tonnes of cargo during 2004, and looks set to do even better this year.

The total easily outdid the earlier record of 127,116 tonnes set in 2000, and is a dramatic 17% increase over 2003.

The record for the most amount of cargo handled in a month, 12,078 tonnes in March 2003, was broken no less than seven times in 2004, with the highest being in October at 13,949 tonnes. This has already been beaten twice this year, and the new high is 14,597 tonnes which was achieved in January.

“These record totals have been achieved through much hard work and dedication and are a tribute to our staff, far surpassing the present Cargo Centre's designed capacity of approximately 125,000 tonnes,” said Janaka Munasinghe, Manager Cargo Operations at SriLankan. “We expect to do even better when the Cargo Centre's new warehouse is completed in the fourth quarter of this year, which will double our cargo handling capacity.”

SriLankan's Cargo Centre dramatically increased its efficiency following its adoption of the Japanese 5S System two years ago, and recently received a Merit Award for the second successive year at the JASTECA Taiki Akimoto 5S Awards.

Cargo totals have soared as SriLankan Cargo continues to explore new avenues with its dedicated freighter service, part of a strategy to make Colombo the “Hub in the Ocean.” In April it launched a twice-weekly service to the southern Indian industrial city of Coimbatore with its two Antonov AN12F aircrafts, which each has a capacity of 17 tonnes. SriLankan Cargo already operates regular freighter services to Chennai ( Madras ), Bangalore, Trivandrum, and Male.

The strategy is proving to be very successful, with a total of almost 22,000 tonnes of transhipment cargo in 2004, easily overtaking the previous year's 17,000 tonnes.

SriLankan Cargo has also been increasing its cargo handling activities as the airline continues to expand. With the launch of its Beijing service on June 15, SriLankan Airlines flies to 48 destinations in 27 countries.

SriLankan's Cargo Centre also handles cargo of all other airlines that use the Bandara naike International Airport .

Business at BIA plunged in 2001 following the attack on the airport, with only 102,497 tonnes of airfreight, but began a rapid recovery in 2002 with 113,891 tonnes. 2003's total of 124,522 tonnes almost broke the record.

SriLankan has turned itself into an award-winning airline in recent years. Its accolades include "Best Airline" in the Central Asia / Subcontinent region for four consecutive years, "World's Friendliest Cabin Crew," First Runner-Up for "World's Best Cabin Staff," "World's Best Airline" in a survey of Economy class passengers, "World's Best Inflight Entertainment" for a small airline, and “Best Airline Turnaround of the Year 2004.” SriLankan's sterling reputation for punctuality prompted Airbus Industrie to name it the most reliable airline anywhere in the world to operate A330 aircrafts.

For more information on SriLankan Cargo, visit www.srilankancargo.aero

Media Relations Section
Corporate Communications Division
SriLankan Airlines

June 28th, 2005