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The construction works of large scale projects at the Katunayake International Airport is being expedited. Minister of Tourism,Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga has instructed the airport authorities to identify the existing obstacles and resolve them expeditiously.
The Minister gave these instructions at a progress review meeting of the Katunayake Airport Development Projects. The meeting was held at the Ministry of Tourism recently
Two large scale projects are currently underway at the Katunayake Airport. Construction of the second passenger terminal at the airport has commenced under the Package ‘A’ works. The Government of Japan has provided Japanese Yen 41,553,891,286.00 for this purpose and the Government of Sri Lanka is spending Rs. 35,135,843,333.00. Although the project was commenced in 2014 when Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President, the previous government continued to delay its commencement and construction works resumed in 2020, after the current government came to power. Construction of new terminals will increase the annual passenger capacity of the Katunayake Airport up to 15 million passengers. At present, the annual passenger capacity of the Katunayake Airport is 06 million passengers. Construction works of the project is overseen by Japan Airport Consultants and Nippon Koi Limited. The contractor of the project is Japan Taisei Company and the project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Construction of the new terminal, which will have multi - storied car parks, new airport lounges, passenger lounges and interconnected multimode transport services, is expected to be completed in 36 months.
Hon.Minister, Prasanna Ranatunga stressed that the construction of this project should be completed within the scheduled time. The Minister said that there were already allegations of construction delays and pointed out to the Japanese contractor that the government was not prepared to delay or halt development projects in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, the Minister instructed that the project be completed within the scheduled time frame without giving reasons for the delay. The Minister also instructed the airport authorities to report to him on the progress of construction every two weeks.
The construction of the Package ‘B’ works of this project, i.e, construction of apron and taxiways is scheduled to be completed in September this year. A sum of Japanese Yen 1,152,273,761.00 and Sri Lankan Rupees 4,456,377,248.00 have been spent on this Package ‘B’ works. The Minister instructed to complete the construction of the project on time and stressed that further time could not be given as time had been given on two occasions.
Hon. State Minister, D.V. Chanaka, Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. S. Hettiarachchi, Secretary to the State Ministry,Mr. Madhava Devasurendra, Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Company, Retired Major,Mr. G.A Chandrasiri, Deputy Chairman,Mr. Rajiv Sooriyarachchi and representatives of the Contracting Company were also present.
මේ වන විට අප අතර සිටින ජේෂ්ඨතම ගුවන් නියමුවා වන කපිතාන් ෂෙල්ටන් ටෙරන්ස් ගුණවර්ධන සිය ගුවන් නියමු බලපත්‍ර සංරක්ෂණ කටයුතු සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අධිකාරියට භාරදීම පසුගිය දා සිදුකලා.
දැනට 95 වන වියේ පසුවන කපිතාන් ගුණවර්ධන, ජාතික ගුවන් සේවය වූ එයාර් සිලෝන් හි ආරම්භක ගුවන් නියමුවෙකු ලෙස කටයුතු කලේය. පසුව එක්සත් රාජධානියේ පෞද්ගලික ගුවන් සමාගම් කිහිපයක සේවය කර 1985 වසරේ සේවයෙන් විශ්‍රාම ලැබූ ඔහු පයිලට් සීයා යන අනුවර්ථ නාමයෙන් ගුවන්සේවා ලෝලීන් අතර ජනප්‍රියත්වයට පාත්‍රවී ඇත.
පනහ සහ හැට දශක වල පැවති සියළු වානිජ ගුවන්යානා මාඳිළින් පැදවීමට හැකිවන පරිදි, සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් 1949 වසරේ දී නිකුත් කරන ලද B ඝණයේ නියමු බලපත්‍රය සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා සංවිධානය විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද නියමු බලපත්‍රය සමග ඔහු විසින් සිදුකල පියසැරීන් පිළිබඳ සියළු සටහන් තැබූ ලොග් සටහන් පොත් ද මෙලෙස සංරක්ෂණ කටයුතු සඳහා ලබාදීම සිදුවූයේ සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අතිරේක අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් පී. ඒ. ජයකාන්ත මහතා පසුගිය දා කපිතාන් ගුණවර්ධන මුණගැසුන අවස්ථාවේ දී ය.
ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අධිකාරිය විසින් ගුවන්සේවා ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ඉතිහාසගත තොරතුරු ඉදිරි පරම්පරාව වෙත දායාද කිරීමේ අරමුණින් සංරක්ෂණය කිරීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ඇති අතර එහි එක් පියවරක් ලෙස අතීත ගුවන්සේවා තොරතුරු සහ දත්ත රැස්කිරීමේ අරමුණින් මෙම හමුව සිදුවිය.
සියවසකට එහා ගිය, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා කර්මාන්තයේ උන්නතිය වෙනුවෙන් උරදී කටයුතු කල කර්මාන්තකරුවන් සහ පුද්ගලයින් ඇගයීමට ලක්ක්රීම වෙනුවෙන් “සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා සම්මාන ප්‍රධානය 2021” නමින් වැඩසටහනක් එළඹෙන දෙසැම්බර් මස දී මෙරට ගුවන්සේවා ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ පළමු වරට සංවිධානය කිරීමට සැලසුම් කරමින් පවතින අතර එහි එක් අංගයක් ලෙස මෙවැනි ජේෂ්ඨයන් ඇගයීමට ද කටයුතු සූදානම් කරමින් පවතී.
ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අධිකාරියේ සභාපති උපුල් ධර්මදාස, සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් කපිතාන් තේමිය අබේවික්‍රම යන මහත්වරුන්ගේ උපදේශකත්වය මත සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා සම්මාන ප්‍රධනය සහ ප්‍රවීණයන් ඇගයීමේ වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ.
ගුවන්සේවාවේ නුදුටු පැතිකඩ සොයා යන රූපමය චාරිකාව වන සෑම සෙනසුරාදාවකම සවස 06 30 ට ජාතික රූපවාහිනියෙන් විකාශය වන ගුවන්සැරිසර රූපවාහිනී වැඩසටහනෙහි පටිගත කිරීමක් ද මෙයට සමගාමීව සිදුවිය.
- සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අධිකාරිය
oneworld® has partnered with travel tech company sherpa◦ to offer the alliance’s customers the most up-to-date information on government entry and travel restrictions, making it easier to plan travel.
Customers may visit the portal at https://www.oneworld.com/covid-19/oneworld-together to retrieve information specific to their journey, including government entry restrictions, testing requirements, health documentation and quarantine rules at their destinations. The portal enhancement, powered by sherpa◦ data, will assist customers in knowing what to expect prior to embarking on their travel.
First launched in July 2020, the oneworld customer information portal has served as a customer resource for information on the various health and well-being measures implemented by oneworld member airlines and major airports in the oneworld global network. Customers may look up a specific flight to view information customised for their journey, as well as information on oneworld member airline lounges.
oneworld CEO Rob Gurney said: “We recognise that customers planning their travel will need to check government entry and travel restrictions. The portal enhancements that we have introduced will help customers access up-to-date information pertaining to government restrictions and COVID-19 measures.”
sherpa˚ Co-Founder and CEO Max Tremaine said: “Our data aggregates the most recent updates from thousands of sources such as Government websites, tourism boards and WHO, helping to reduce complexity for travellers. This launch demonstrates oneworld’s commitment to delivering a seamless and personalised customer experience for the members of their global alliance.”
For media queries, please contact press@oneworld.com
About oneworld
oneworld brings together 13 world-class airlines - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and SriLankan Airlines, and more than 20 of their affiliates. Fiji Airways is a oneworld connect partner. Alaska Airlines is a oneworld member-elect.
oneworld member airlines work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience, with special privileges and rewards for frequent flyers, including earning and redeeming miles and points across the entire alliance network. Top tier cardholders (Emerald and Sapphire) enjoy access to airport lounges and are offered extra baggage allowances. The most regular travelers (Emerald) can also use fast track security lanes at select airports.
About sherpa˚
Founded in 2015 by Max Tremaine and Ivan Sharko, sherpa˚ is the leading global provider of travel identification requirements for the travel industry. sherpa˚’s vision is to provide every traveller with the information they need and documentation they require to move confidently and securely across borders. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, sherpa˚ partners with the world’s leading travel providers in over 50 countries and is backed by True Ventures, Narrative.Fund, Relay Ventures, Globalive Capital, N49P, and Stuart Macdonald. To learn more, visit https://www.joinsherpa.com/
SriLankan Airlines has been awarded the Platinum Standard status by APEX Health Safety powered by SimpliFlying following a full independent audit for our efforts in ensuring the highest standards for passenger safety and wellbeing during air travel, post-Covid.
This status recognizes airlines that go above and beyond minimum standards required to rebuild traveller confidence and confirms our commitment to the safety of both our passengers and staff.
The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and SimpliFlying have teamed up to create this health safety standard for airlines, which aims to help the industry by giving airlines a proactive role in the resumption of global travel and in creating a common standard for Health Safety.
Chairman SriLankan Airlines Ashok Pathirage stated that “The latest recognition awarded to SriLankan Airlines based on an international independent safety audit, is a definitive indication that, with the adoption of the right health and safety measures such as detailed on-board safety, hygiene, and social distancing procedures at airports, compliance with the testing and entry requirements of local authorities, SriLankan Airlines stands tall in the aviation industry in its operations under trying conditions of a global pandemic and is a source of pride to Sri Lanka.”
Mr. Pathirage further stated that “The Platinum Standard status is a timely accolade for SriLankan Airlines at a time when Sri Lanka’s borders are reopening for international travel and tourism.”
The CEO of SriLankan Airlines Vipula Gunatilleka said: “From the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have introduced the most rigorous and stringent hygiene and sanitization procedures both on-board and on-the-ground that is on par with global aviation practices.As the national carrier, SriLankan is keen to lead the recovery of commercial airline operations and renew passenger confidence with passenger wellbeing as our priority.
The evaluation covered 58 touchpoints across the passenger journey and weightage assigned.
The weightage and touchpoints are reviewed quarterly by a board consisting of medical experts and passenger experience executives from airlines.
The audit spans categories that include testing, tracing, on-the-ground procedures, in-flight measures, and even co-branded partnerships that further airline product safety integrity.
“SriLankan Airlines’ incredible steps for Covid-19 customer safety have placed the airline as the highest-ranked in all of South Asia,” APEX CEO Dr. Joe Leader stated. “SriLankan’s expansive customer-focused wellness work, both on-the-ground and in-the-air, surpass the gold-standard for customer safety and definitively met the standards for a Platinum-certified airline.”
SriLankan Airlines has been working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, the GMOA – Government Medical Officers Association, and the Ministry of Health to make sure they follow safety guidelines recommended by the World Health organization (WHO).
Corporate Communications
SriLankan Airlines
www.srilankan.com
SriLankan Airlines has been supporting the national economy and country since the closure of the Bandaranaike International Airport in March 2020 with the outbreak of COVID-19 by flying stranded Sri Lankans home and facilitating international trade by maintaining the vital link between Sri Lanka and the rest of the world.
Nearly the entire fleet of the Airline was grounded due to the closure of airports and travel restrictions imposed by various countries in the past nine months. As a result, the Airline has had to cope with unprecedented revenue losses owing to the reduced number of flights being operated, namely for repatriation of fellow citizens and transportation of essential goods including medical supplies.
The Airline has been adopting ad-hoc flight schedules due to the pandemic in addition to responding swiftly to the needs of the Government in relation to repatriation of Sri Lankans and the transportation of cargo as and when required. This necessitates all employees of the Airline to report to work on short notice in accordance with the guidelines stipulated by Authorities for the prevention of COVID-19. The precautionary measures taken, and the required personal protective equipment always provided by the Airline have protected the employees when they were on duty.
The National Carrier has also relied on the support of the Government of Sri Lanka to get through this difficult period, and the Government led by His Excellency the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has unhesitatingly extended necessary funds in spite of the budgetary and fiscal challenges faced by the Government. Therefore, it is the utmost duty of the employees to support the Government in their efforts to rebuild the country. The employees of SriLankan Airlines have endured many hardships since the onset of the pandemic from having to work in a tough and unpredictable working environment whilst foregoing a percentage of their income in salary cuts.
It is against this stressful backdrop that members of the executive committee of the Airline Pilots‛ Guild (ALPG) have decided to act in a self-centered manner, not only causing severe disruptions to the Airline‛s operations but jeopardizing the Airline as well as the development efforts of the country. The ALPG has forced members to resort to unacceptable action by refraining from consenting to report to work on rostered off-days by refusing the duty call or being unresponsive to calls from the Company.
Therefore, the Board and the Management of the Airline are thoroughly disappointed that one segment of the Airline‛s employees is intentionally undermining the efforts of the rest of the committed and valuable employees of the company and the determination of the Government of Sri Lanka. Jointly, the Board, Management and dedicated employees of the Airline vehemently condemn these untimely and selfish actions of the ALPG.
The grievance of the ALPG is that the Airline provides them with a dedicated treatment facility for members who test positive for COVID-19. The Airline has requested such a facility from the relevant authorities and is hopeful that a facility would be made available soon.
Corporate Communications
SriLankan Airlines
www.srilankan.com
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