Srilankan Airlines Sees Huge Growth Potential In Malaysian Market

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) -- SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, carried 6,000 passengers on its Colombo-Kuala Lumpur route in June this year, an increase of 10 per cent from a year ago. "Malaysia has huge growth potential. Compared to last year, our sales has doubled," its chief executive officer-cum-director Kapila Chandrasena told reporters after launching its appointed General Sales Agent for Malaysia, AS World Vacation Sdn Bhd here, Thursday. Describing Malaysia as a very important and priority market, Kapila said the airline planned to increase its capacity by increasing the wide-body aircraft operation. "We are now using a narrow-body aircraft for Malaysia. We are thinking of changing into a wide-body aircraft to increase the capacity, and to make passengers feel comfortable," he said. The airline currently offers two daily flights, with one being a morning flight from Colombo which arrives in Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon, and another which departs at midnight from Colombo and arrives in Kuala Lumpur early in the morning. Kapila said the airline's focus currently was in Asia especially China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Middle East countries. It also expects to sustain its route network in Europe. Established in 1979, the airline is currently undergoing expansion, further diversifying its wide range of products and services in order to drive the country's tourism and economic development. Meanwhile, as the General Sales Agent for Malaysia, AS World Vacation will jointly work with the airline in all its marketing and operational activities towards expansion of the business, and to enhance overall customer experience. -- BERNAMA