Priyanka Saxena Ray
How does your airline plan to expand its presence in India, both in terms of network and frequency of flights?
India is indeed a primary market for SriLankan Airlines. Our objective is to position ourselves as the most preferred carrier for travel between India and Sri Lanka, while establishing Colombo as a convenient and key transit hub for Indian travellers heading to destinations such as the Maldives, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Our key focus in the Indian market is frequency enhancement, strategic partnerships, and market-driven offerings. We are continuously evaluating opportunities to increase frequencies on high-demand routes and introduce new destinations, particularly in Tier 2 cities with strong potential.
Currently, we operate 88 weekly services across nine Indian cities. In response to growing demand, we reinstated the Chennai night service during the Winter 2024 schedule, making Chennai our most served destination with 21 weekly flights. We also added frequencies to Tiruchchirappalli and Madurai.
We plan to expand to 90 services with two additional flights to Thiruvananthapuram from April 2025 and aim for 95 weekly flights by Winter 2025, with the addition of five more frequencies to Mumbai, bringing the total to 19 flights per week.
Air India is one of our oldest and strongest codeshare partners. We are currently in discussions to expand our reach beyond the cities we directly operate in. These partnerships enable seamless travel options for passengers from smaller Indian cities.
What steps is your airline taking to reduce its carbon footprint, especially in the Indian sector?
We currently operate six Neo aircraft, which are frequently deployed on Indian routes—already a step toward reduced emissions. Additionally, we follow Airbus-recommended green operating procedures to minimize fuel consumption wherever possible.
We uplift a blend of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) under the RefuelEU program in Europe and the UK and are open to using SAF in the region as local regulations and supply stabilize.
Beyond fleet efficiency, we are committed to sustainable practices across our operations. We’ve shifted to eco-friendly materials, including recycled PET carpets onboard. We maintain strict waste management protocols and continually work to improve energy and resource efficiency.
Our award-winning upcycling initiative “Mathaka” repurposes retired aircraft items into memorabilia. We’re also working with government agencies in Sri Lanka to preserve biodiversity, focusing on blue carbon ecosystems like mangroves and seagrass.
Can you share insights on your airline’s new aircraft acquisitions and how they align with your growth plans in India?
SriLankan Airlines currently operates a fleet of 20 Airbus aircraft—nine wide-body and 11 narrow-body. We plan to add two narrow-body aircraft between April and June 2025, bringing the total to 13, followed by the addition of one wide-body aircraft between July and October 2025. Two more wide-body aircraft will be added between November 2025 and March 2026, expanding our fleet to 25 by the end of March 2026.
This expansion directly supports our India strategy. The upcoming increase in frequencies to Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai is part of this growth.
Internationally, we plan to resume services to Beijing with four weekly flights starting July 2025 and Shanghai by November 2025. These routes will offer the quickest connections for Indian travellers heading to China via Colombo.
With increasing demand from India to Southeast Asia, we will also enhance our double daily services to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore from July 2025. This will allow Indian passengers convenient dual-destination holidays, combining Sri Lanka or the Maldives with Southeast Asia—something no other carrier currently offers at such scale and convenience.
How is your airline working with tourism boards, airports, and other stakeholders to facilitate increased connectivity and seamless travel experiences?
No airline knows India quite like we do—we see India as one world with many countries. SriLankan Airlines plays a key role in promoting inbound tourism to India across multiple segments, including pilgrimage, medical tourism, shopping, and sightseeing.
We were recently recognised as the ‘Best International Airline 2024’ by Tamil Nadu Tourism for our contributions to inbound tourism.
We recently conducted a successful familiarization trip for 14 Sri Lankan travel agents and tour operators, hosted by the Telangana State Ministry of Tourism, to promote tourism to the region via our Hyderabad service.
For medical tourism, particularly to Kerala, we’ve organized two medical camps in the Maldives in collaboration with leading hospitals in Kerala and plan to conduct more, as Thiruvananthapuram remains a preferred destination for Maldivian patients.
Our larger objective is to strengthen India-Sri Lanka ties through enhanced air connectivity and mutual tourism promotion, using SriLankan Airlines as a bridge between the two nations.
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