SriLankan Becomes PATA’s Newest Aviation Member

Bangkok (Thailand) – September 28, 2015 (travelindex.com) – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce that SriLankan Airlines has joined PATA as its newest Aviation member. SriLankan Airlines, the National Airline of Sri Lanka, is an award-winning carrier with a firm reputation as a global leader in service, comfort, safety, reliability, and punctuality.

Launched in 1979, SriLankan is currently expanding and further diversifying its wide range of products and services in order to drive the country’s ongoing boom in tourism and economic development. The airline’s hub is located at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, providing convenient connections to its global route network of 99 destinations in 47 countries (including codeshare operations) in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Far East, North America, Australia and Africa.

PATA CEO Mario Hardy said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome SriLankan Airlines to the PATA family, as our newest aviation member. As a PATA member, we look forward to working with them to help build their business and brand through our extensive networks and our in-depth research and insights into the Asia Pacific region. We will also have the extra benefit of close cooperation, when we hold our PATA Annual Summit 2017 in Negombo, Sri Lanka.”

According to PATA, international visitor arrivals (IVAs) to Sri Lanka are forecast to reach above the 2 million mark by 2019, with tourism expenditures expected to reach US$8 billion.

SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman Mr. Ajith Dias said, “Sri Lanka is emerging as one of the most exciting tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Conferences and Exhibitions) destinations in Asia. Sri Lanka’s MICE industry experienced a leap forward in the last few years recording over 144,000 MICE visitors to the country in the year 2014 of which majority has emerged from the Incentive Travel segment. The total tourist arrivals into the country exceeded 1.5 million in 2014 from mere 500,000 in 2009. At a time when we look at attracting tourists from new markets, our membership in PATA and our role in the PATA Annual Summit 2017 will provide an ideal opportunity to share insights and look for collaborative ventures to promote MICE tourism within the region.”

About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 87 government, state and city tourism bodies, 25 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 59 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 43 local PATA chapters worldwide. The chapters organise travel industry training and business development events. Their grassroots activism underpins PATA’s membership of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC), which includes ACI, CLIA, IATA, ICAO, WEF, UNWTO and the WTTC. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing, Sydney,and London. Visit www.PATA.org.

About SriLankan Airlines
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier for Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, is an award-winning airline with a firm reputation as a global leader in service, comfort, safety, reliability, and punctuality.

Awards include World’s Friendliest Cabin Staff by Skytrax, Best Airline in South Asia from Travel Trade Gazette, World’s Most Reliable Operator of Airbus A330s and A340s by Airbus Industrie, and the Etihad Global Excellence Award for Best Regional Caterer.

SriLankan has mutual code share services with Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Air Canada, Alitalia, Oman Air, Finnair, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines, American Airlines, Ari Belin, NIKI and Mihin Lanka.

SriLankan Airlines joined the oneworld airline alliance on May 1,2014 as the first carrier from the Indian Sub-continent. SriLankan now flies alongside some of the biggest and premier brands in the airline business – airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Qatar Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 airlines. Together with its oneworld membership, the flagship carrier of Sri Lanka offers its customers convenient connections to a thousand destinations in over 150 countries, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles any oneworld carrier and access to over 500 lounges for top tier frequent flyers. www.srilankan.com

Media Contact:
PATA
Paul Pruangkarn
Manager – Communications
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
E-mail: Communications@PATA.org

SriLankan Airlines
Saminda Perera
General Manager Corporate Communications
SriLankan Airlines
Level 21, East Tower,
World Trade Centre, Echelon Square,
Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Tel: +94197331400
Email: dawpadee.kawshalya@srilankan.com