SriLankan Airlines witnessed 50% per cent growth in India : CEO Richard Nuttall 

SriLankan Airlines has a robust presence in the Indian market, which serves as a secondary home market. We currently operate to nine Indian destinations, with around 100 weekly frequencies, and maintain a strong position despite the market not having fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. SriLankan Airlines has seen growth of nearly 50 per cent in the Indian market over the last year. 

Free visas for Indians was announced in October 2023. There is insufficient data at the moment to provide meaningful numbers on the outcome of this move, as it is still a relatively new initiative

Indian routes are nearly 20 per cent of our revenues, and there are additional revenues coming from Indian traffic on connecting routes. The airline carries connecting traffic to and from India, the Middle East, and the Far East. 

Our extensive network ensures seamless connections, offering passengers a convenient route. This strategy takes advantage of the commercial impracticality for Indian and Australian carriers to cover all Indian points to Australia. As such, we are able to maintain yields by focusing on cities without direct flights. 

The airline currently runs with an operating profit, spanning from April to December 2023. Our seat factor and passenger revenue growth continue to demonstrate a strong performance. However, cargo revenue has fallen and this is primarily due to diminishing demand, with the greater impact arising from the global trend of decreasing cargo yields. There are currently no operational constraints arising from privatisation. At the moment we are concentrating on returning the fleet to pre-Covid levels. Future growth decisions will be made with whomever owns the airline at the appropriate time. 

Colombo’s location in the Indian Ocean allows it to connect passengers from the Indian Subcontinent, East Africa and the Indian Ocean, on routes where there are no direct carriers, with shorter travel times than other connecting carriers. Building on our existing network and hub operation, there is considerable room for growth.   

As a globally recognized MRO provider known for excellence, we continuously seek opportunities to expand our portfolio and engage with industry partners. Despite IndiGo transitioning some maintenance in-house, we remain committed to delivering world class MRO services and are exploring new collaborations. SriLankan Airlines Engineering (MRO) stands to benefit significantly from the growing Indian aviation sector, as the substantial growth in the industry creates a potential demand for aircraft maintenance services that may surpass the MRO capacity in India.