SriLankan extends its own Ground Handling operations to India

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.
23/05/08 Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

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Categories: Cargo May 2008, Foreign May 2008, New May 2008