3.2 million Passengers flew SriLankan Airlines in 2007

SriLankan Airlines carried 3.2 million passengers around its global network in 2007, an increase of more than 100,000 over the previous year. It was the largest number of passengers carried by the airline in a calendar year since its inception in 1979.

Significant increases were recorded in all regions – Europe, India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The largest improvements were in traffic to and from Frankfurt, Bahrain, Doha, Bangkok, and Singapore.

In India, substantial increases were seen in the number of passengers carried to and from Mumbai, Calicut, Goa, Madras, and Bangalore. Last November, SriLankan became the first foreign carrier to operate 100 flights per week to India and now serves 11 cities there. During 2007 it launched services to Coimbatore and increased services to several other cities, including its double-daily service to Mumbai.

“It was not an easy year since some tourists were deterred by strong travel advisories issued by key tourist generating countries. We also faced increased competition from other carriers in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia,” said Manoj Gunawardena, Head of Worldwide Passenger Sales.

The airline’s other traditional markets continued to be rock solid, including London, Male, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Trivandrum, Trichy, and Cochin.

Apart from carrying travellers to and from Sri Lanka, the airline has focused on turning Colombo into a hub in the region, connecting East and West and serving as the gateway to India.

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