SriLankan Airlines achieves record passenger revenue
Colombo, April 16: SriLankan Airlines, the flag carrier of the island nation, on Monday said it had achieved a record annual passenger revenue of $830 for the 2017-18 fiscal, the highest ever in the company's 38-year history.
In a statement, the airline said the revenue came as a result of its recent expansion to several new destinations such as Hyderabad (India), Gan Islands (Maldives) and Melbourne with additional frequencies to popular cities in its network, reports Xinhua news agency.
Both passenger and cargo divisions exceeded their annual target, enabling the SriLankan Airlines Group to exceed the overall annual revenue target.
SriLankan Airlines CEO Captain Suren Ratwatte said this was the first instance of the airline achieving its annual revenue target since Emirates left as its managing partner 10 years ago.
"This comes at a turbulent time for the industry when most airlines are facing difficulty maintaining their yields due to intense competition. SriLankan has just completed a year of significant expansion with minimal erosion on yields and ended the year comfortably exceeding the revenue target," Ratwatte said.
The airline said the year had been one of transformation in which it inducted four brand new fuel efficient narrow-bodied aircraft to the fleet, becoming the first A321neo aircraft operator in Asia.
A new Board of Directors was also appointed last month to accelerate the restructuring process and create the enabling environment to proceed with entering into a Public-Private-Partnership with a strategic investor.
In February, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a special Presidential Commission to investigate alleged large-scale frauds and malpractices in SriLankan Airlines, after the company recorded severe losses.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
