AIR INDIA APPOINTS HAYLEYS AS GENERAL SALES AGENT (PASSENGER) IN SRI LANKA

Air India, India's leading global airline, has selected Hayleys, Sri Lanka’s leading blue-chip multinational conglomerate, as its General Sales Agent for passenger sales in Sri Lanka.

Leveraging the expertise, scale, and reliability of the Hayleys Group, the partnership will further enhance Air India's presence in Sri Lanka to support the airline's ongoing transformation and global expansion.

"Hayleys is honoured to represent Air India in Sri Lanka. Together, we share a commitment to corporate responsibility and uphold similar values, allowing us to offer unparalleled credibility, strength, stability, and value to our customers. The improved connectivity resulting from this collaboration will add greater momentum to Sri Lanka's resurgent tourism industry, creating value for our nation and supporting the growth aspirations of Air India," said Mohan Pandithage, Chairman and Chief Executive of Hayleys PLC.

Air India operates 17 weekly flights between India and Sri Lanka, contributing to the growing trade and tourism between the two countries. With its vast global network spread across five continents,
Air India offers convenient connections via Delhi or Chennai to passengers travelling between
Sri Lanka and the rest of the world, particularly North America, Europe, and Australia. This trajectory is fortified by the rapid advancement of India's cutting-edge airports and associated infrastructure, coupled with the augmentation of Air India's fleet to meet burgeoning regional demands.

India's rising economic strength is leading to exponential growth in travel. More than 23 million inbound tourists and 10 million outbound tourists were recorded in 2023, making it one of the single most dynamic emerging hubs for aviation in Asia, with over 300,000 annual arrivals from India.

The strategic partnership supports Air India's ongoing transformation and modernisation programme that is poised to offer Sri Lankan passengers a world-class flying experience with Indian hospitality at the core of it. With its orders for 470 new aircraft, the airline is expanding and modernising its fleet, leading to the arrival of one new aircraft every six days through this year and into the next. Coupled with the other transformational changes designed to elevate the travel experience for customers,
Air India is positioned to establish itself as a world-class, global airline with an Indian heart.

“With increased connectivity, we see tremendous potential to significantly increase this number. We are therefore excited and honoured to serve as Air India's GSA for Sri Lanka, and we are committed to taking all possible measures to grow this invaluable partnership," said Ruwan Waidyaratne, Executive Director of Hayleys PLC and Head of its Transportation and Logistics sector – Advantis Group.

Air India’s new office in Colombo is conveniently located at:
Ground Floor, 209, Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 07 (Facing Town Hall).

For more information, please contact +94 112 902 902.

 About Air India:

Founded by the legendary JRD Tata, Air India pioneered India’s aviation sector. Since its first flight on October 15, 1932, Air India has built an extensive domestic network with non-stop flights to cities around the world, across the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Far East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Gulf. After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022.

Air India is navigating through a major five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI, with an ambition to become a world class airline with an Indian heart. The first phase of this transformation, the taxi phase was recently concluded, and focused on fixing the basics. These included bringing back to service many long grounded aircraft, addition of talent across flying and ground functions, rapid upgradation of technology, and strengthening of customer care initiatives amongst others.

ABOUT HAYLEYS:

A centrepiece of the Sri Lankan economy, the Hayleys Group maintains a global presence across five regions with business interests spanning 16 diverse sectors. Contributing over $ 650 million of the country’s foreign earnings and 5.5% of the nation’s total export income, Hayleys is a champion of sustainable innovation and represents one of Sri Lanka’s most prominent success stories. The diversified conglomerate is currently assigned a National Long-Term Rating of ‘AAA’ (lka) by Fitch Ratings and is the only corporate to be awarded the nation’s Best Corporate Citizen on six occasions.