SriLankan Airlines has been named ‘Best Airline of the Year in Central Asia’ for the third consecutive year by Skytrax Research of the UK.

This is the largest independent passenger survey in the international airline industry, spanning over 4.4 million passengers from over 76 different nationalities.

The survey was carried out between August 2002 and March 2003 through travel panel research, corporate traveller questionnaires, online customer surveys, telephone interviews and passenger interviews.

SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Peter Hill acknowledges this prestigious award as a singular honour, and an invaluable endorsement of the airline, more so because it comes from a widely represented base of international customers.

“This award bears unique testimony to the consistent high standards we maintain and high quality of service we offer", Hill says.

Winning the ‘Best Airline of the Year in Central Asia’ title for three consecutive years also consolidates and ensures SriLankan Airlines’ position among the big players in Asia’s international airline industry.

Says a confident Hill, “This award has given us greater impetus and determination. It has spurred our team on to taking SriLankan Airlines to greater heights, and, very ambitiously, winning it next year too.”

Apart from the Skytrax awards, SriLankan has been awarded 'Best Airline in South Asia' by the popular travel trade magazine TTG(Asia) in 2002. Selling Long Haul magazine of the UK voted SriLankan 'Best Long Haul Carrier to South Asia' while Reise and Preise magazine of Germany voted SriLankan’s Economy Class in the top ten in 2001 and 2002.

Skytrax also voted SriLankan’s cabin crew as the friendliest in the world.

SriLankan flies to 30 destinations in 20 countries across Europe, the Middle East, the Indian sub continent and the Far East.