SriLankan achieves 13% growth in cargo handling at BIA

SriLankan Cargo, the freight handling arm of SriLankan Airlines, set a new record for the amount of cargo handled at the Cargo Centre of Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with a total of 239,636 tonnes in 2016, a growth of 12.88 per cent over the 212,277 of the previous year.

SriLankan Cargo handles cargo of all airlines that operate to Sri Lanka’s main international airport, including imports, exports and transhipments. The total in 2016 included 39,842 tonnes of transhipment cargo, a rapid increase compared to the 35,877 tonnes handled during the previous year, a media release issued by the airline said last week.

Siva Ramachandran, Chief Commercial Officer of SriLankan Airlines, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the achievement of yet another milestone by the National Carrier. Congratulations to the team at SriLankan Cargo who continuously strive for excellence and innovative methods in serving our customers.”

Bandula Weragama, General Manager Airport and Ground Services at SriLankan Airlines, said: “SriLankan Cargo takes pride in being an extremely reliable contributor to the bottom-line of SriLankan Airlines by generating a significant amount of revenue, which has recorded a consistent growth every year. All indications are that 2017 will be another record breaking year and we are looking at fast-tracking our expansion plans to meet the expected growth in demand.”

The state of the art 25,000 square metre Cargo Centre has dedicated areas for imports, exports and transshipments, and sophisticated facilities for cold storage, animal handling, dangerous goods handling, CCTV facilities to secure all goods, a high-security area for valuables, and a 24-hour customer care centre. On-line tracking through SkyChain allows customers to track their shipments in real time right up to their destinations, the release said.

Janaka Munasinghe, Senior Manager Worldwide Cargo Operations, added: “We have achieved this performance through the sustained teamwork of our hardworking team at SriLankan Cargo, which regularly comes up with new innovations to enhance productivity and efficiency and provide an even better service experience for our customers.”

The sole cargo handler at BIA, SriLankan Cargo is now fast approaching the maximum annual capacity of the BIA Cargo Centre, which last expanded in 2008, and expects to surpass its capacity in 2017, the carrier noted.

During 2016 SriLankan Cargo also set the single-month record for cargo handled at BIA with 21,743 tonnes in the month of March, which surpassed the previous high of 20,040 tonnes in March 2015.

SriLankan Cargo operates to all of SriLankan Airlines’ 101 destinations in 47 countries on its sophisticated all-Airbus fleet of A320, A321 and A330 aircraft.

SriLankan Cargo handles cargo of all airlines that operate to Sri Lanka’s main international airport, including imports, exports and transhipments.