Channe Wijemanne elected President of IATA Agents Association of Sri Lanka

George Steuart Travel Ltd. Director/Chief Executive Officer Channe Wijemanne was elected the President of the IATA Agents Association of Sri Lanka (IATA – AASL).

He was elected to the post at the 29th Annual General Meeting of the IATA Agents Association of Sri Lanka (IATA-AASL), which was held on 19 May in Muscat, Oman.

Apart from Wijemanne’s election as President for the 2017/2018 period, The Traveller Global Ltd. Chairman/Managing Director Rizmi Reyal was elected Vice President.

In addition, the following individuals were elected to the Executive Council of IATA-AASL for 2017/18, Nishantha Senaveratne - General Manager of Aitken Spence Travels Ltd; S. Paramanathan - Managing Director of Atlas Lanka Ltd; Suresh Mendis - Chief Executive Officer of Classic Travels Ltd; Faris Deen - Chief Executive Officer of Gabo Travels Ltd; Niranjan Dalpethado - General Manager of Hayleys Travels and Tours Ltd; Riza Ahamat - Director/General Manager of Hemas Travels Ltd; Jude Condrad - Managing Director of Himpras Tours Ltd; Trevor Rajaratnam - Chief Executive Officer of Travel 7 Ltd; M.L.C. Fernando - Managing Director of  Lando Travels Ltd; Rimzi Nazeer - Managing Partner of Skymark Travels Ltd; Duminda Lowe - Managing Director of 02nd Chance Travels Ltd; and Tillak Wickramasinghe - Proprietor of Skyways who was named the Immediate Past President. 

In his address to those gathered, Wijemanne thanked all members for the trust placed in him in an era where travel was evolving at a great pace. He pledged to work closely with all industry partners so as to enable all stakeholders to have a greater degree of seamlessness and efficiency in executing their day-to-day work.

IATA-AASL was formed in 1988 as a body to represent the interests of Sri Lankan Travel Agencies accredited to the International Air Transport Association. At present, the IATA Agents Association of Sri Lanka has a membership of 135. The AGM was followed by cocktails and a dinner reception at the Al Falaj Hotel in the presence of sponsors Amadeus Lanka Ltd, Oman Air and Fairfirst Insurance Ltd.