Aerospace Diary

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS SriLankan Airlines is modernising and expanding its fleet with a mix of new Airbus and Boeing jets. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] May 8, 2014, 2:23 PM SriLankan Airlines appears poised to expand its reach into the neighboring Indian air transport market after becoming the 14th member of One World alliance late last month. The move is a boost to a country trying to bounce back after a 25-year civil war and makes SriLankan the first carrier from the Indian subcontinent to gain admission into a global airline alliance—ahead of rival operators in the far larger Indian market. The April 30 joining ceremony happened at Sri Lanka’s new Hambantota Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, serving the south and east coasts of the country. But it is hub operations out of the capital Colombo that carry the potential to feed One World traffic to and from Indian cities. “India is an extended home market for us,” said...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  APRIL 15, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Thanks to Chinese funding, Sri Lanka now has a second international gateway, Mattala Rajapaska International Airport, and Sri Lankan Airlines is among the first carriers to commit to operating there. (Photo: Sri Lankan Airlines) April 15, 2013, 2:15 PM Sri Lanka’s second international airport–the $200 million China Exim Bank-funded Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport ( MRIA )–opened last month and has already attracted national carrier SriLankan Airlines and its subsidiary, SriLankan Cargo; Sharjah-based budget carrier Air Arabia; and flyDubai. Emirates Airlines, Korean Airways and Sichuan Airlines all plan to start services soon, while British Airways and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways have also “committed” to establish a presence at  MRIA , located in the district of Hambantota, some 100 miles southeast of the capital, Colombo. Looking to attract ...

Singapore Air Show » February 16, 2012 by  Neelam Mathews Lufthansa Technik Philippines.   Weak airline profits are increasing pricing pressure on the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market. That’s a big challenge–but by no means the only one–facing MRO providers in 2012, the Year of the Dragon, according to Lufthansa Technik chairman August Henningsen. “We’re happy we’re in a growth market, not a shrinking one,” he told a press conference in Singapore yesterday. LHT has a not insignificant 60-customer presence in the Asian market, and this week the German group has been confirming more new business. Yesterday, SriLankan Airlines signed a five-year component supply contract through which LHT will support its Airbus A320 fleet. Spare parts will be supplied to the airline’s home base at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, whic...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews June 30, 2011 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with editors of five newspapers on June 29 answering queries on various subjects. This what he had to say about India’s neighbors, on Naxalism, US withdrawal from Afghanistan, China defense buildup, India’s defense budget…… On Sri Lanka…. You have a situation in Sri Lanka. The decimation of the LTTE was something which is good. But the Tamil problem does not disappear, with the defeat of the LTTE. The Tamil population has legitimate grievances. They feel they are reduced to second-class citizens. And our emphasis has been to persuade the Sri Lankan government that we must move towards a new system of institutional reforms, where the Tamil people will have a feeling that they are equal citizens of Sri Lanka, and they can lead a life of dignity and self-respect. It is not easy. Within Sri Lanka's population, there are hotheads, the Sinhala chauvinism is a reality. But we have to find a difficult balance...

News AWIN First Jan 05 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com NEW DELHI SriLankan Airlines is planning a strategic tie-up for maintenance, repair and overhaul with India’s budget carrier IndiGo. IndiGo is expected to be the principal stake holder in the venture, which will open up to other carriers in India, according to an airline official. SriLankan Airlines is in the process of restructuring its operations and has plans to hive off its engineering and ground-handling operations into wholly owned subsidiaries that will function independently. This is a win-win option, said an analyst. IndiGo signed a year-long contract with SriLankan last year for conducting C checks on 10 of its A320s family. Indigo has now signed another contract for C2 checks with SriLankan Airlines for 2010. Managing relationships is what Indigo appreciates, and the fact that the airline is in it for the long-term, Paul Dempsey, production planning manager for SriLankan Airlines told AviationWeek. Growth ...