SIA’s new GM in Sri Lanka upbeat on prospects

World famous and leading carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) yesterday emphasised its optimism over prospects in Sri Lanka and renewed its longstanding commitment to promote the destination in addition to continuing with superior service.

The reiteration of positivism was when SIA announced its new General Manager for Sri Lanka Aldrin Arumugam succeeding Melvin Ng, who will be leaving the country after a two-year stint to take up his new posting in Moscow, Russia.

Incoming General Manager Arumugam counts for 15 years in SIA, with his last posting being in Athens, Greece.

“Post-war, Sri Lanka has seen a tremendous rebound in travel and tourism whilst the pace of tourist arrivals and economic growth has outstripped some of the regional countries. In this backdrop, I am assuming office in Sri Lanka with great optimism,” Arumugam told journalists.

He said that the recession and difficulties in the West remain a concern for Asia in general as well as for the airline industry, but expressed confidence that Sri Lanka would be able to grow amidst the challenges.

“We will continue to focus and improve on its three core strengths – service, hub position and connectivity,” said the new GM of SIA, which last year celebrated 40 years of uninterrupted presence and operations in Sri Lanka. SIA as well as others have seen increased competition in the Singapore sector in tandem with growing numbers.

Arumugam pointed out that Asia was the major driver of global tourism and Sri Lanka stood to benefit to ride on this wave if well supported with a mix of aggressive and niche marketing in countries such as China, Japan and Korea, among others.

Citing an example, he said the Chinese weren’t beach tourists but the Maldives had succeeded in luring a considerable number by positioning and marketing Maldives as a honeymoon and romantic destination.

In its northern summer schedule, SIA increased frequency to the Maldives’ capital Male to twice daily (14 flights per week) from 10 flights per week. The four additional flights are daytime flights, enabling SIA to offer customers a choice of seven daytime flights and seven night-time flights per week.

SIA currently flies daily between Singapore and Colombo, whilst the service was upgraded for the benefit of passengers with the deployment of brand new Airbus A330 in July. Attaching high importance to the Sri Lankan market as well as the upgrade, SIA’s Regional Vice President West Asia & Africa Philip Goh flew in for the launch. SIA’s General Sales Agents are Aitken Spence Plc.

Outgoing GM Ng said that his two-year stint in Sri Lanka was very special as there was industry-wide support for SIA as well as growth for the carrier. It was during Ng’s tenure that SIA formally tied up with Sri Lanka Tourism to promote the destination among the SIA stations spanning over 100 destinations globally. This voluntary move by SIA was widely commended by the travel and tourism industry.

SIA at present operates a modern passenger fleet of more than 100 aircraft and its network, including Singapore Airlines Cargo and SilkAir destinations, covers a total of 103 destinations in 39 countries.