Srilanka on track

As namma bengaLoorina antara rashtreetya vimAna nildANa (international airport) comes up, I had the opportunity to travel in Srilankan airlines recently. Found somethings of Srilankan airlines and the international airport at Colombo really impressive. Here are some of the things that caught my eye.

First the Airlines,

• Good service.
• Smiling crew - Both in the flight as well as at the baggage checkin area. Professional to the core. Full of courtesy and elan.
  
• Young Crew (any resemblance to namma airlines is intentional.. :P..)
• Stick to their culture. The females wear the traditional Lankan dresses. I think men should also follow suite. A decent white shirt with a Panche should not be too much to ask for. Even Indian carriers should follow it. Kingfisher for example.. errrrr... ;)
  
• Though they seem to have second hand flights (the ones I used were strikingly similar to the Indian Airlines and the Air France flights), they've maintained it well.
• Good vegetarian food from the subcontinent.. (I'm partial here. But doesn't harm anyone. West has only a 'special meals' concept.. :)..)
• There was no chaos in boarding. Well planned and executed boarding. Usually, people are highly restless and create havoc.
  
• Timeliness
• At least the flights I used, stuck to the schedules to the T.
  
• Baggage!!
• Most important thing for any traveler. I was allowed to carry 30KGs as against the standard 20KGs.
• I got the baggage undamaged, even after a change over at Colombo and this being a through checkin. Keep it up!

Now the Bandaranayake International airport at Colombo

• International standards
  
• Could hardly get a glimpse of the bays for parking. But whatever I saw, was very nicely laid out. But I guess its not as great as the CDG.
  
• The floors are all granite and neatly kept. The feel is very much similar to the malls we find in Bangalore.
  
• Long walkways to the terminals and large waiting rooms on both sides of it.
• The walkways have escalator-like converyor belts at places to ease out the long walks with the baggage.
• Good ergonomic seats all over.
  
• Waiting rooms large enough to hold
• Big terminal indicators with black background and yellow alphabets/numbers.
• Plasma screens indicating the schedule of flights. Do we see the TV like programming in India? This is the next level of it.
• This is highly accessible and there are wheel chairs all over.
• TVs with international programming, like VH1 were being played. Not a big deal, but still.
  
• Airport crew
  
• There is an Airport crew, not just the Airline crew, for help. All females clad in red sarees and men in strict blue and white uniforms. All speaking English and more than proactive and courteous. Any 'where-am-I' kind of expression on your face will be greeted and prompted for help. Isn't that proactive?
• Airport crew has these small 4 wheeler vehicles to move around in the airport. These are very silent and smooth vehicles. Way to
  go!!

Overall a nice experience!! hmm. The penchant among the Lankans to uphold thier heritage and culture while adapting to the flat globalised world, was most conspicuous. Looking at all the developed countries, I think this pride among people is the one which creates a unique, respectable image in the world. A "must-have" characteristic for any developing country.. in my honest opinion.

Way to go Lanka!!.. Ayubowan!! (A greeting in Simhalese meaning 'may you live long')