SriLankan Airlines has become the Airline of the Year 2001 - Central Asia, its first major accolade since revitalising its services to a world-class calibre.

In the largest ever global survey of airline passengers, conducted by the UK`s SKYTRAX Research, 2.7 million votes were submitted over a period of nine months from around the world - culminating in the awards process in March 2001.

The survey asked customers to rank airlines by the quality of the product and service provided to passengers.
Peter Hill, SriLankan`s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are thrilled that SriLankan has been recognised as the top airline for the Central Asia region.”
“This award is the seal of approval from our customers that our efforts to revitalise the Airline have been successful, but that does not mean we can become complacent in our work to continue to provide a top-quality service to our customers for a long time to come.”
“All our Airbus aircraft are fitted with inflight entertainment and telephone in every seat - but we believe this accolade reflects the great service of our ground services and cabin crew staff.”
SriLankan Airlines, based in Colombo, flies to 35 destinations in 26 countries using the latest aircraft, including the Airbus A330-200 and the A340-300.
SKYTRAX Managing Director, Edward Plaisted said: “This survey is a truly global voting process, and not restricted by the influences one sees with polls conducted on a more regional basis.”

“It allows for some much smaller airlines to compete on an even basis with the world`s giants. Since we do not look at frequent flyer programmes or other commercial influences, the end result portrays the truest picture of a quality airline.”
SKYTRAX research is the operating name for In-flight Research Services, UK, an independent organisation specialising in Qualitative Research for the airline industry since 1990.

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