SriLankan ‘cheap’ tickets snapped up

By Duruthu Edirimuni

SriLankan Airlines is expecting revenue of a few million dollars after passengers snapped up the airline’s attractive Internet offer of a return ticket to London, Paris or Frankfurt at a ‘dirt-cheap’ Rs.27,000 inclusive of taxes. The current rate is said to be around Rs. 80,000 per ticket. SriLankan Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Barry Brown told The Sunday Times there has been heavy demand since the national carrier started the promotion two weeks ago.

Industry sources said the company’s payment gateway provided by Sampath Bank crashed as inquiries clogged the system but Mr. Brown denied this, saying there was peak demand during the first few days of the promotion.

“In total we have about 6000 tickets and we have sold about 3000,” he said.

Mr. Brown said about 300 to 400 tickets per day are sold with most of the demand coming from Europe.

The tickets come with conditions where no refunds are made if visas are refused. Once a ticket is purchased, the airline will not refund the ticket. All travel must be made before mid-December.