Some positive news from Sri Lanka
19 of 77· 12 junSource:- http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles.../10130276.html
8 REACTIESEmirates may renew management contract with Sri Lankan Airlines
By Ivan Gale, Staff Reporter
Vancouver: Emirates airline will likely renew its management role with SriLankan Airlines, a top Emirates official said, after months of the deal appearing to be in limbo.
"The issue is under discussion with the Sri Lankan government, and it looks likely the contract will be extended," said Maurice Flanagan, Emirates vice-chairman and group president, during an aviation conference in Vancouver on Monday.
Emirates owns a 43 per cent stake in Sri Lanka's national carrier and also manages the airline under a 10-year contract, which expires in March 2008. The Colombo-based airline is majority owned by the Sri Lankan government. This week, the airline announced that its net profit last year was Dh67 million ($19 million), an increase of 48 per cent from the Dh45.6 million ($12 million) it reaped in 2005.
Emirates, the eighth largest carrier by international traffic, often fuels speculation that it will acquire foreign carriers, but its partial ownership in SriLankan has been its only foreign investment.
Until last month, the Sri Lankan government had not sat down to discuss the contract renewal with Emirates, effectively preventing the airline from formulating a long-term plan.
In February, a SriLankan official told Gulf News the airline would like to grow from a fleet of 14 aircraft to 25, "but nobody can go ahead until the government of Sri Lanka gives the green light for Emirates to continue with management".
The tenor of the talks last month between the government and Emirates was "warm", Flanagan said.
While not directly involved in the talks, Flanagan said he expected the matter to take another three to four months to finalise.
Overload· 13 junGelukkig, ik vloog laatst met ze en het personeel zat nogal in de rats. Goede airline BTW, beviel me beter dan Emirates en Quatar. Had helaas de 'oude' business class stoelen, maar die waren prima. Overigens hebben ze volgens mij in economy behoorlijk veel beenruimte.
13 jun
19 of 77· 9 sepLooks like they're getting close to a deal
Looks like they're getting close to a deal
From Reuters
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL0749788220070907
Emirates seeks to expand, upgrade SriLankan fleet
Fri Sep 7, 2007 1:41PM EDT
DUBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Emirates airline expects to renew its contract to manage flag-carrier SriLankan Airlines for at least another five years and aims to as much as double its fleet to 30, Emirates' president said on Friday.
Emirates, which owns 43 percent of SriLankan, will meet officials of the South Asian island state next month to secure "the basis of an agreement" to renew its 10-year contract which expires in March, Tim Clark told reporters.
"It hasn't been an easy operation," Clark said. Sri Lanka's 2003 ceasefire in its civil war broke down last year.
The new contract could be for five years, extendable for another five, Clark said.
Within five years, Emirates would seek to expand SriLankan's fleet of 14 to between 25 and 30, replacing its aging fleet of single-aisle Airbus A320s (EAD.PA) with the larger A321s, and seek to fly to more destinations in India, Clark said. "The A340s are also getting long in the tooth."
Dubai-based Emirates hopes to reach final agreement on the management contract before the end of the year, leaving the size of its stake in SriLankan unchanged, Clark said.
Guess I'd better renew my contract then ;)
Looks like they're getting close to a deal
From Reuters
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL0749788220070907
Emirates seeks to expand, upgrade SriLankan fleet
Fri Sep 7, 2007 1:41PM EDT
DUBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Emirates airline expects to renew its contract to manage flag-carrier SriLankan Airlines for at least another five years and aims to as much as double its fleet to 30, Emirates' president said on Friday.
Emirates, which owns 43 percent of SriLankan, will meet officials of the South Asian island state next month to secure "the basis of an agreement" to renew its 10-year contract which expires in March, Tim Clark told reporters.
"It hasn't been an easy operation," Clark said. Sri Lanka's 2003 ceasefire in its civil war broke down last year.
The new contract could be for five years, extendable for another five, Clark said.
Within five years, Emirates would seek to expand SriLankan's fleet of 14 to between 25 and 30, replacing its aging fleet of single-aisle Airbus A320s (EAD.PA) with the larger A321s, and seek to fly to more destinations in India, Clark said. "The A340s are also getting long in the tooth."
Dubai-based Emirates hopes to reach final agreement on the management contract before the end of the year, leaving the size of its stake in SriLankan unchanged, Clark said.
Guess I'd better renew my contract then ;)
9 sep
19 of 77· 9 janTrouble in Paradise
Trouble in Paradise
From the BBC website
Link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7175527.stm
Emirates to end Lanka partnership
By Sanjay Dasgupta
BBC News
Emirates Airlines has announced that it will not renew its management contract with Sri Lanka's national carrier after March this year.
Emirates owns a 43% stake in Sri Lankan Airlines and runs it under an agreement with the Sri Lankan government.
The pull-out announcement follows a row over ticketing between the chief executive of Sri Lankan Airlines and the Sri Lankan government in December.
Relations between the two soured significantly following the incident.
In December Peter Hill was appointed chief executive of Sri Lankan Airlines by Emirates to run to run Sri Lanka's national carrier.
Soon after his appointment, he refused a request from the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, for 35 tickets on a flight from London to Colombo.
The president needed to travel at short notice with 35 other passengers
The president, who was in London for a private visit, was rushing home in order to be able to attend a crucial session of Parliament.
But Mr Hill refused the request as the flight was over-booked. Shortly afterwards, Mr Hill's working visa and residence permit were withdrawn by the Sri Lankan authorities.
Talking to the BBC, Mr Hill said the incident "had some bearing" on Emirates' decision not to renew its contract.
"Basically the flights had been full for several months and we weren't able to accommodate that number of people - we were talking about 35 seats here.
"And so we asked them if there was a possibility that only the president and his close relatives could travel, and we probably would have been able to accommodate them with three or four seats.
Personally I feel that after 10 years of putting the airline on the right road to success and profitability, it was a disappointing end.
"But obviously we weren't able or prepared to offload 35 previously booked customers, basically taking the whole of our premium cabin and 17 seats in economy, at that short notice.
"That's not the way that commercial airlines run their businesses, and we're a commercial airline."
Mr Hill said soon afterwards his work permit and the residents permit were withdrawn.
The original contract between Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines had been in operation for 10 years, and would have come up for renewal in April.
Mr Hill said Emirates had made a set of proposals for renewing the contract more than 18 months ago, but had heard nothing from the Sri Lankan authorities.
While Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines insist their parting has been amicable, Mr Hill said that it would nevertheless send the wrong signal to international investors.
"Personally I feel that after 10 years of putting the airline on the right road to success and profitability, it was a disappointing end," he said.
"But the message it sends out to the international community, I think, is not a good one."
For its part Sri Lankan Airlines says it will have to put together a plan to continue running its operations from April, which it says it is capable of doing.
Looks like an interesting year ahead - good thing there are plenty of jobs.
Trouble in Paradise
From the BBC website
Link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7175527.stm
Emirates to end Lanka partnership
By Sanjay Dasgupta
BBC News
Emirates Airlines has announced that it will not renew its management contract with Sri Lanka's national carrier after March this year.
Emirates owns a 43% stake in Sri Lankan Airlines and runs it under an agreement with the Sri Lankan government.
The pull-out announcement follows a row over ticketing between the chief executive of Sri Lankan Airlines and the Sri Lankan government in December.
Relations between the two soured significantly following the incident.
In December Peter Hill was appointed chief executive of Sri Lankan Airlines by Emirates to run to run Sri Lanka's national carrier.
Soon after his appointment, he refused a request from the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, for 35 tickets on a flight from London to Colombo.
The president needed to travel at short notice with 35 other passengers
The president, who was in London for a private visit, was rushing home in order to be able to attend a crucial session of Parliament.
But Mr Hill refused the request as the flight was over-booked. Shortly afterwards, Mr Hill's working visa and residence permit were withdrawn by the Sri Lankan authorities.
Talking to the BBC, Mr Hill said the incident "had some bearing" on Emirates' decision not to renew its contract.
"Basically the flights had been full for several months and we weren't able to accommodate that number of people - we were talking about 35 seats here.
"And so we asked them if there was a possibility that only the president and his close relatives could travel, and we probably would have been able to accommodate them with three or four seats.
Personally I feel that after 10 years of putting the airline on the right road to success and profitability, it was a disappointing end.
"But obviously we weren't able or prepared to offload 35 previously booked customers, basically taking the whole of our premium cabin and 17 seats in economy, at that short notice.
"That's not the way that commercial airlines run their businesses, and we're a commercial airline."
Mr Hill said soon afterwards his work permit and the residents permit were withdrawn.
The original contract between Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines had been in operation for 10 years, and would have come up for renewal in April.
Mr Hill said Emirates had made a set of proposals for renewing the contract more than 18 months ago, but had heard nothing from the Sri Lankan authorities.
While Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines insist their parting has been amicable, Mr Hill said that it would nevertheless send the wrong signal to international investors.
"Personally I feel that after 10 years of putting the airline on the right road to success and profitability, it was a disappointing end," he said.
"But the message it sends out to the international community, I think, is not a good one."
For its part Sri Lankan Airlines says it will have to put together a plan to continue running its operations from April, which it says it is capable of doing.
Looks like an interesting year ahead - good thing there are plenty of jobs.
9 jan
Overload· 10 janGood luck:huilt:
10 jan
Viper1983· 10 jannot good...
I wonder how and if they manage it this year. Hopefully they will do ok, but Emirates stepping out of the management is never a good signal.
I wonder how and if they manage it this year. Hopefully they will do ok, but Emirates stepping out of the management is never a good signal.
10 jan
Morning Glory· 11 jan
Interesting to see that a public pissing contest can take place that high up.
I guess we're all human in the end.
Too sad to see that a lot of people will suffer from some ego's clashing.
Good luck to all involved.
I guess we're all human in the end.
Too sad to see that a lot of people will suffer from some ego's clashing.
Good luck to all involved.
11 jan
Radix· 11 jan
Als het allemaal met elkaar in verband staat, zoals het BBC artikel suggereert is het een mooie soap...
11 jan
19 of 77· 11 janJust another day in Sri Lanka - a land like no other! ;);)
11 jan