COLOMBO, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's national airline carrier, SriLankan Airlines on Monday said it had achieved a record annual passenger revenue of Rs. 126.9 billion (US dollars 830.7 million) for its just ended financial year of 2017/18, the highest ever in the company's 38-year history.
In a statement, the airline said the revenue came as a result of the recent expansion of it to several new destinations such as Gan Islands, Hyderabad and Melbourne and additional frequencies to popular cities in its network.
The statement said, both passenger and cargo divisions exceeded their annual target, enabling the SriLankan Airlines Group to exceed the overall annual revenue target.
SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Captain Suren Ratwatte said this is the first instance of the airline achieving its annual revenue target since Emirates Airline left as the managing partner ten years ago.
"This comes at a turbulent time for the industry when most airlines are facing difficulty maintaining their yields due to intense competition. SriLankan has just completed a year of significant expansion with minimal erosion on yields and ended the year comfortably exceeding the revenue target," Ratwatte said.
The airline said the year had been one of transformation for SriLankan Airlines, in which it inducted 4 brand new fuel efficient narrow-bodied aircraft to the fleet, in the process of becoming the first A321neo aircraft operator in Asia.
A new Board of Directors was also appointed to SriLankan Airlines last month, to accelerate the restructuring process and create the enabling environment to proceed with entering into a Public-Private-Partnership with a strategic investor.
In February, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a special Presidential Commission to investigate alleged large-scale frauds and malpractices in SriLankan Airlines, after the company recorded severe losses in recent years.
