History
Air Lanka was set up by the Government of Sri Lanka in July 1979 following the closure of Air Ceylon in 1978. Initially, the new air carrier operated 2 Boeing 707 jets on lease from Singapore Airlines, but Air Lanka ended up keeping the Boeing 707s, which were purchased in 1979, while a Boeing 737 was acquired for shorter routes. During the 1980s, the airline increased the number of destinations served and made additions to its fleet. During the mid-1980s the airline operated two Boeing 747-200 aircraft to a number of European destinations. By 1990, Air Lanka was serving 26 destinations. The airline's golden aircraft was the Lockheed L1011 Tristar, which served the airline from 1980 to 2000. In December 1992, the airline purchased its first Airbus A320.
Air Lanka, which was state-owned, was part-privatized to the Dubai-based Emirates Group in 1998, when Emirates and the Sri Lankan Government signed an agreement for a ten-year strategic partnership. This agreement included exclusive rights for all aircraft ground handling and airline catering at Colombo-Bandaranaike airport for a ten-year period. Emirates bought a 40% stake worth US$70 million (which it later increased to 43.6%) in Air Lanka, and sought to refurbish the airline's image and fleet. The Government retained a majority stake in the airline, but gave full control to Emirates for investment and management decisions. In 1998, the Air Lanka rebranded to SriLankan Airlines.
SriLankan acquired 6 Airbus A330-200s to complement its fleet of Airbus A340-300 and A320-200 aircraft. The A330-200 aircraft joined the airline between October 1999 and July 2000. The company’s fourth A340-300 arrived at Colombo painted in the airline’s new corporate livery. SriLankan upgraded its existing A340 fleet into a two-class configuration (business and economy class) whilst overhauling the interior to reflect the new corporate image.
SriLankan Airlines has been affected by environmental problems and acts of terrorism. This has included the SARS outbreak, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the Sri Lankan Civil War, and a Bandaranaike Airport attack, which destroyed 4 aircraft and damaged 2, writing off half of the airline's fleet. SriLankan took the decision to position Colombo as a hub for flights to Asia. This is evident in its expansion into regional markets, notably India and the Middle East.
Whilst continuing expansion in the region, SriLankan commenced flying to Jeddah, its third destination in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh and Dammam. Jeddah was the airline's 51st destination in 28 countries, thus increasing the number of destinations in the Middle East to nine.
On 19 December 2007, the then-CEO Peter Hill's work permit cancelled by the Sri Lankan Government. Sri Lankan Airlines lost in because of some hedging deals. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100314/BusinessTimes/bt02.html
In 2008 Emirates notified the Sri Lankan Government that it would not renew its management contract, which then expired on 31 March 2008. It claimed that the Sri Lankan Government was seeking greater control over the day-to-day business of the airline, "which was not acceptable to us".
The flight attendant uniform remained unchanged from the days of Air Lanka until February 2010, when a new uniform was introduced. The first destination announced for their expansion plans was Shanghai, China the route to which began on 1 July 2010. The airline commenced flights to Guangzhou, China on 28 January 2011. The airline also plans to start flying to Seoul, Sydney and Johannesburg in 2013. Also Copenhagen, Ho Chi Minh City and Manila is on the table.
Emirates sold its 43.63% stake in the airline to the Government of Sri Lanka in a deal that was finalised in 2010, thus ending any affiliations the two airlines had with each other.
SriLankan Airlines is a holder of the Imperial Mark, which is valid until May 2014.
The airline is set to join the Oneworld alliance in 2013.
Read more about this topic: SriLankan Airlines
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“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
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—J.L. (John Langshaw)
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—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)