SriLankan to increase fleet
Dharma Sri Abeyratne
SriLankan Airlines will increase its fleet to 30 aeroplanes within a
few years in accordance with the airlines sector development plan, Civil
Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said.
The minister was addressing media yesterday at the Civil Aviation
Ministry. He said that initiatives are under way to increase the fleet
up to 30, in line with the Airline's five year development plan
introduced in 2010.
In accordance with the five year plan, the annual passenger
transaction rate will also be doubled by 2015.
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Lanka 4th among 40
countries in airline safety
Dharma Sri Abeyratne
Sri Lankan aviation sector
has obtained the fourth place in the South Asian region for
implementing universal safety standards, Aviation Minister
Priyankara Jayaratne said.
According to the Universal
Safety Oversight Audit Programme 2011 findings, SriLankan
Airlines is at the fourth place out of forty countries.
Republic of Korea is at
first place and Singapore is second while Japan is at third
place. Hence only three countries are above the standards of
SriLankan Airlines.
SriLankan Airlines has
obtained 86.5 percent points to reach this qualitative
standard, the minister added.
This achievement signifies
the overall implementation of safety standards to ensure
personal and organizational performance, the minister said. |
Annual transactions are now at around three million and it will be
increased to six million with the commencement of the Mattala
International Airport which is going to be the second international
airport of the country.
Now the airlines operate 22 aeroplanes 13 narrow body Airbuses, 7
wide body Airbuses and two seaplanes. According to the development plan
four narrow body and two wide body planes will be added to the fleet of
SriLankan Airlines, Minister Jayaratne added.
“Three Airbuses and two seaplanes are scheduled to be added to the
fleet of the SriLankan airlines soon. The target is to increase the
total fleet to 30 Airbuses by 2015”, the minister added.
Meanwhile SriLankan Airlines will fly to several new destinations
including Korea and Australia. The airlines commenced operations to
Russia for the first time in the country’s aviation history from last
September. It is the 52nd destination of SriLankan Airlines. Besides,
SriLankan Airlines commenced operations to Toronto in Canada for the
first time from October last year with a stopover at London’s Heathrow.
In addition, the Airlines operates to Shanghai from last July.
A technical officer of SriLankan Airlines said these Airbuses come
with advanced technology includes the extensive use of weight-saving
composites, an optimised wing that is 20 percent more efficient than
previous designs along with Airbus’ fly-by-wire flight controls. They
provide total flight envelope and airframe structural protection for
improved safety and reduced pilot workload, along with improved flight
smoothness and stability, and fewer mechanical parts.
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