Emirates upbeat on Sri Lanka, opens plush new office

By Marianne David

Emirates is upbeat on Sri Lanka and reiterated its commitment to the country by opening its new office at Hemas House, Braybrooke Place yesterday.

Emirates Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations (West Asia and Indian Ocean) Majid Al Mualla was in town to declare open the new office, which combines passenger and cargo operations for the convenience of its customers. The office was earlier located on the ninth (passenger) and fifth (cargo) floors of Hemas House.

In an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the opening ceremony, Mualla told the Daily FT that Emirates’ performance in Sri Lanka has been “excellent,” asserting that it has experienced tremendous growth.

“We are committed to this market and to support the growth of tourism and the country’s dynamic export sector,” he said. “The refurbishment and relocation of our city office in Colombo is also a symbolic expression of our commitment to the destination,” he added.

 “Emirates has been in Sri Lanka since 1986 and there has been steady growth. We have now reached almost a 76% growth factor. Right now we are operating 21 flights to Dubai and even with the recession last year and the year before that, we weren’t overly affected,” he said.

Having launched services to Sri Lanka in April 1986, shortly after commencing operations as the international airline of the UAE, Colombo was the fourth destination on the Emirates network, which has now grown to 113 destinations in 66 countries.

Emirates currently operates 28 services a week to Sri Lanka; 21 services are westward to Male and Dubai, while seven are eastward to Singapore.

Commenting on the airline’s commitment to Sri Lanka, Mualla said: “We are one carrier which has never pulled out even throughout the difficult times in the country. Not only in Sri Lanka, but whenever we go to a place and open a new route, our commitment is to stay there. There are companies that pulled out from Sri Lanka, but we never pulled out.”

Mualla also expressed optimism on the post-war uptake, emphasising Emirates’ determination to support tourism and trade in the island and look into new opportunities in the future.

“Whenever we open a new destination, our network helps Sri Lanka in a way. We have an opportunity to bring those people to Sri Lanka. Wherever we open routes, we try to make sure that we get business to Sri Lanka and we have been successful in doing so,” he revealed.

Touching on challenges for regional aviation, Mualla affirmed that the biggest challenge at present was fuel – an unpredictable factor which affects everybody in the industry.

The second challenge, he said, was restrictions imposed by some other countries in allowing other airlines to come in and operate. “However, this does not apply to Sri Lanka and we have been very successful here. We have very good support from the Government and the authorities,” he stressed.

Mualla added: “I am sure that in the future as well, we and the Government of Sri Lanka will work together in terms of opportunities for both parties. I am not talking only about Emirates, but overall, for both parties to grow.”

He noted that in terms of trade between the two countries, passenger cargo has also recorded growth.

“Post-war, I am sure that Sri Lanka needs all the support in terms of infrastructure and the tourism industry. There are a lot of people and a lot of companies willing to invest in Sri Lanka and I am sure that as an airline we are one of the ways to facilitate this,” he added.

While the airline currently operates 153 wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft, Mualla revealed that it has placed orders for 200 more aircraft in order to expand its fleet in the near future.

“We have new routes coming into our network as well. Hopefully there will be more announcements on those lines in the near future,” he added.

It 2010, it launched services to Tokyo in March, Amsterdam in May, Prague and Al Medinah al Munawarah in July, Madrid in August and Dakar in September.

New passenger routes in 2011 include Basra in February, Geneva in June, Copenhagen to be launched on 1 August, St. Petersburg on 1 November and Baghdad on 13 November.

In the 2010-11 financial year, Emirates Group recorded revenue of US$ 15.6 billion and net profit of US$ 1.6 billion. The airline reported revenue of US$ 14.8 billion and net profit of US$ 1.5 billion in the same year.

One of the fastest growing airlines in the world, Dubai-based Emirates Airline has received more than 400 international awards for excellence.