What are the key takeaways from your previous role as the SriLankan Airlines’ Country Manager for Japan?

Japan is a very strategic market for SriLankan Airlines and the Japanese outbound tourism is a vital component for us. There are approximately 16 million Japanese citizens travelling every year – and it is growing exponentially. The Japan market has huge potential when it comes to tourism.

In Japan, SriLankan Airlines exclusively promotes Sri Lanka and the Maldives and it has had a very positive outcome. Thirty-eight per cent of the 40,000 or so Japanese tourists fly to the Maldives with SriLankan.

Initially, Maldives was known in Japan as a destination only for the honeymooners. Oneaspect I learnt during my time there is that nowadays, Japanese tourists are very excited about activities such as diving and surfing. I believe this is the perfect opportunity for the Maldives to penetrate that specific segment of the tourism market in Japan. Currently, destinations such as Hawaii, Saipan, Fiji, New Caledonia, and so on, are destinations that are being marketed in Japan for these exciting activities. The Maldives has huge potential to get to that in Japan in terms of diving and surfing. The Maldives is not just a honeymoon destination; there are many popular dive and surf spots in the country and it’s all about how the Maldives markets the destination.

You have only started your new role in the Maldives a little over a month ago, how has it been so far?

To be very honest, I have always wanted to carry out a term in the Maldives. After working in Japan for four-and-a-half years, I was to be posted in another country, but I specifically requested for the Maldives instead. I do not take the Maldives lightly, despite its small size, the revenue generated is relatively equal to some of the other major destinations. I had been closely watching the Maldives over a period of time, and I knew I had to play my cards right. I believe this was the right move.

This is an exciting place! The people and the activities on the islands are much livelier. I found that Maldivians are very friendly and have been tremendously supportive during my relocation here and in helping me settle down. Additionally, I am very fond of the local Maldivian cuisine – it is quite close to Sri Lankan food, but completely unique at the same time. So far, I have truly been enjoying my time here.

What are the key attributes for SriLankan Airlines’ success in the Maldives?

Ever since SriLankan Airlines started operations 40 years ago on 1st September 1979, Maldives has always been considered as the airline’s second home-base – and this bond is still going strong and will endure forever. The relationship between Sri Lanka and the Maldives is solid. We are one of the carriers that have consistently served the greatest number of flights to the Maldives. As soon as the expansion project of Velena International Airport is complete, we will once again commence our fourth night-time flight to the Maldives. SriLankan Airlines looks forward to that day.

There is a large number of Maldivians residing in Sri Lanka and vice versa. Therefore, there is a multitude of nationals from each country travelling between Colombo and Malé. On the other hand, there is also a large number of inbound tourists from other countries to the Maldives, so we grabbed that opportunity and provided them with a feasible connectivity between destinations. These two aspects, along with the relationship between the two countries, are the key reasons that SriLankan Airlines has been so successful in the Maldives. SriLankan Airlines is also the only international airline to cover two destinations in the Maldives, namely, Malé and Gan

How has SriLankan Airlines contributed in rebuilding the country’s tourism efforts following the tragic bombings of Easter Sunday?

SriLankan Airlines, as the National Carrier was on the forefront of the country’s recovery efforts. Through its established worldwide network, the airline took measures to convey to the world that Sri Lanka has reinstated its security and the destination is a safe and secure place. Even in the face of travel advisories, SriLankan continued to operate its full network strength, thus re-emphasizing that safety is established.

The Airline spearheaded the communication endeavors driving the message of safety, through organizing journalist FAM tours sourced from its key markets such as India and China, using collaborative platforms such as Australia’s Great Ocean Road Running Festival to drive the message through direct interaction with the visitors, and most of all the award-winning endeavor was the Vesak commemoration that took place at our home base, Bandaranaike International Airport, which was barely three weeks after the tragedy struck. This was honored with a global accolade – the ‘Best Marketing Innovation’ award from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX).

The campaign, which centered on the Buddhist festival of Vesak to showcase the unity and spirit of tolerance among Sri Lanka’s many ethnic and religious communities, reached an audience of 7.6 million people with 1.2 million engagements via live streaming over YouTube and Facebook that specifically targeted major tourism markets worldwide.

The campaign involved a range of events that emphasized the message of peace through spiritual songs, intricate decorations, offering refreshments catered by none other than the Airline’s catering arm - SriLankan Catering to travelers at the airport, thanking people for visiting Sri Lanka, and much more. A special choir of airline employees ranging from pilots to cabin crew, aircraft engineers, administrative staff, auditors and aircraft interior cleaning crews were trained by some of the country’s top musicians to entertain travelers.

SriLankan Airlines was recognized for the third consecutive year at the South Asian Travel Awards 2019 (SATA), and also bagged the ‘Leading Airline Passenger Class – Business’ award for the third year running among the airlines in the region. How important is it to be honored in this way?

Indian Sub-continent is our extended home market. Our consolidated presence in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even the Maldives have given us a status of a leading carrier in the region, a fact which is recognized at various globalforums including World Travel Awards. It is always a pleasure to have been honored as it goes to show that we have continuously delivered what we promise our customers, in terms of connectivity, service and comfort.

How is SriLankan Airlines utilizing social media to build their brand community and interact with their customers?

SriLankan Airlines currently steers a strong social media marketing drive, to educate customers on its product and services, special offers, connectivity additions as well as important announcements. The Airline also uses a considerable amount of social media space to showcase Sri Lanka. The Airline looks forward to adopt latest advancements, best practices and industry trends to provide a digitally enhanced customer experience.

There is heavy competition among flights from Male’ to India. How is the battle and how are things turning out?

One of the predictions of the industry is that by the year 2030, India will be the fourth largest market in the world for air travel, replacing the UK. Another prediction is that there will be a 3% growth in the number of outbound tourists from India and China. Consequently, airlines are adjusting themselves to cater to these markets.

SriLankan Airlines is faring quite well in the competition amongst flights from Malé to India. Not only do we have reasonable prices, but we also provide absolute high standards of service and comfort to our customers. Let’s say a few customers buying their seats closer to the date are comparing flights. The closer it gets to the day of travel, the higher the prices rise for each airline. At this point, most travelers will not look at the prices – they will compare the service and comfort level. This is where we have a good hold on the competition between airlines from Malé to India.

Personally, I love a good challenge. I believe competition is good for any business to grow. This is where you can get the best out of your team and yourself. I always tell my team, no matter what, customer is king. Provide customers with the respect and service they expect, and you will definitely start seeing higher revenues – it depends a lot on the extent of the service you provide to your customers. At SriLankan Airlines, the more competition we have, the healthier our airline becomes. Be about the game, then you’re through – you don’t need to worry.

What separates SriLankan Airlines from its competitors?

Primarily, I would say it’s the number of flights we operate between Malé and our hub in Colombo, as well as the distribution from Colombo to other destinations. This is our biggest selling point.

Additionally, we provide quick, consistent and frequent connectivity. Let’s take India as an example; we have flights from Colombo to Delhi three times a day, to Mumbai and Bangalore twice a day, and to Chennai four times a day.

Another factor is that Colombo is a very convenient transit point. The airport is easy to navigate and not complicated like a lot of the other international airports around the globe. Additionally, the fact that almost everyone at the airport speaks English makes it very advantageous. Maldivians, especially, are so used to flying via Colombo – they know the airport like the back of their hands.

I’m also glad to say that SriLankan has won ‘Asia’s Leading Airline to the Indian Ocean’ at the World Travel Awards for the 3rd consecutive year, giving a sound indication of the level of our service standards.

Another strong point of SriLankan Airlines is the cabin crew. Unlike other international airlines who have multinational crew members, ours is 100% Sri Lankan. This not only makes the airline unique, but provides a consistent level of thinking, mentality, service, standards and much more. We are very proud to have an all-Sri Lankan in-flight crew.

We always thrive to provide the best for our guests. On the Maldives route, for example, most of the time we deploy our modern A330-300 aircrafts. We are sometimes asked why we operate these big aircrafts to the Maldives. It’s all about providing the highest standards to our guests.

How has the oneworld partnership helped SriLankan?

Being a member of an esteemed alliance such as oneworld goes to prove that even though we have a relatively smaller fleet and network, we are being recognized on par with the industry giants such as British Airways, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific etc. As an Airline, it has contributed to the elevation of our brand through an association of this magnitude. This has also provided a range of opportunities to our top tier frequent fliers, who can travel with added ease when they fly across the alliance’s network. Most of all, Maldives marks a milestone in our oneworld membership, as Gan Island is one of the destinations that SriLankan Airlines was privileged to add to the alliance’s amalgamated route network.

How do you think the airline market/industry will grow in the next five years?

According to IATA, there will be a 3% growth in the next 10 years, primarily driven by China and India. China will be replacing the US as the number one travel generator and India will push the UK to number four, taking the third spot. Thailand is also expected break into the top ten travel generating countries by 2030, replacing Italy. There is a major growth expected from the Asia.

The question is how will government bodies cope in terms of infrastructure. Certain airports are already on the move, like Bangalore; they will be opening their second runway soon, as they are more or less done. There are many areas that need to be covered at government level in order

to cope with this demand that has been projected – specially in our region. India breaking into the top three is huge for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The US is another world. China is another world. Likewise, we fall into the Indian Subcontinent. We have to prepare ourselves to take on these challenges.

In order to support these predictions, SriLankan Airlines is currently planning to set up an international aviation academy which will be the airline’s training arm in the Maldives. This project should be finalized very soon. SriLankan will be conducting trainings in various areas, such as airport handling, ticketing and so on. There are many new airlines coming in to the Maldives market such as Gulf Air which was inaugurated recently, Oman Air has also come in. As the number of airlines coming into Maldives is growing, what can we do? That was the question we asked ourselves. Considering all these areas we came to the conclusion of setting up a training school in the Maldives.

We will be conducting IATA-certified trainings which will provide Maldivians with cutting edge education for all participants. We are trying to support the government with all these facilities so that everyone is geared up to handle the massive growth predicted for the future. Time will move much faster than we think, so will the number of travelers and the existing workload and buildings in terms of resources will all be too much to handle. Therefore, we all have to gradually support that area and make sure everything is in place when the time comes. There is a projected growth of over 150 million to the current numbers for the next five or ten years. It’s a massive growth!

“Personally, I love a good challenge. I believe competition is good for any business to grow.”