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SriLankan
Airlines going green
SriLankan Airlines has launched a series of long-term
initiatives aimed at safeguarding the environment and
emphasizing its commitment to conservation.
SriLankan has begun discussions with the Environmental
Unit of International Air Transport Association (IATA),
the global aviation industry’s governing body,
to exchange the latest information and developments
on aviation related environment issues. SriLankan is
also participating in IATA’s current survey on
Environment Management Systems Among Airlines.
The National Carrier is now formulating a comprehensive
Environmental Policy which will govern the company’s
impact on the environment around the world. A special
Environmental Team is to be appointed shortly to drive
the airline’s efforts in the area of conservation.
CEO Manoj Gunawardena said: “The global airline
industry is increasingly moving towards minimising its
impact on the environment, and IATA is driving various
initiatives in this area. SriLankan Airlines already
has a large number of environmental safeguards, and
we are now putting in place a formal mechanism to guide
and govern all of the company’s activities in this
regard.”
A Comparative Study has already been carried out by
SriLankan on current environmental initiatives of several
other major airlines.
Sri Senanayake, Manager International Relations at SriLankan,
said: “The international aviation industry is in
the formative stages of moving towards safeguarding
the environment. It is important that SriLankan Airlines
stays in step with global trends and we have made a
firm commitment in this direction. We intend to develop
our programme rapidly over the next few months.”
A dialogue has also begun with the Sri Lanka’s
Civil Aviation Authority on present aviation environment
standards and their implementation in Sri Lanka.
In addition, the National Carrier is also actively participating
in the tourism industry’s environmental initiatives
and action groups.
The airline has in recent years adopted a number of
initiatives aimed at safeguarding the environment and
minimising the impact of the company’s operations
on the environment. These include measures to increase
fuel efficiency of aircraft and routes; recycling of
waste products; purification of effluents; and reduction
of energy usage at the company’s many installations.
Buddhika Hewawasam, a former Wildlife Ranger who is
behind the airline’s drive to go Green, said: “Our
Green Policy is being formulated to take us to a position
of environmental excellence in the airline industry.
We are planning to incorporate a wide range of activities
with a strategic view towards prevention and control
of pollution, environmental education, and proper monitoring
and reporting. We intend to focus especially on enhancing
staff awareness of current trends in the aviation industry
towards safeguarding the environment”.
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