Good air transport is a link to attract unusual contribution to hit growth and competitiveness. The very fact that the aviation industry operates as a catalyst with rapid growth indicates that as a sector it represents an ever-larger proportion of national output. Aviation has become a necessity for frequent travel be it for business or leisure. New companies have outgrown theirs into wide competitive network carriers, therefore, it will be fascinating to observe how the immediate and future advancements in aviation are addressed and tackled. Soaring newer heights in the aviation sector which would enhance competitiveness was discussed with
Dr Sumith De Silva,
Head
Marketing and Corporate Communications,
Airport and Aviation Services (Private)Limited.

Q : HOW DO YOU LOOK AT SRI LANKA’S AVIATION INDUSTRY IN 2024?

The year 2024 was a great year for us as we were able to regain what we lost due to many external and internal shocks such as the global pandemic and the economic crisis. Passenger and aircraft movements at BIA continued to grow in 2024. In 2018, the airport reached historic heights with 10.88 million passengers and 67,351 aircraft movements. We were able to handle 7.5 million passengers in 2023 and we were expecting the passenger numbers to increase up to around 8.5 million in 2024. We were able to record around 8.8 million international passenger movements, over 56,000 aircraft movements, and approximately 195,000 metric tons of cargo operations at Sri Lanka airports in 2024. This marked a growth of 18% in international passenger movements, 20% growth in international aircraft movements,
and 22% growth of cargo movements compared to 2023.

In addition, Sri Lanka was able to achieve 2 million international tourist arrivals in 2024 demonstrating a significant 43.49% increase in tourist arrivals compared to the same period in Therefore, we expect
a continuous robust growth of the tourism and aviation industry in Sri Lanka in 2025.

Q: WHAT ARE THE KEY LEADERSHIP QUALITIES THAT YOU BELIEVE ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DRIVING INNOVATION IN THE AVIATION MARKETING SPACE AND CHALLENGES?

Among the many factors, I would like to highlight three major factors that I consider.

Visionary Thinking, See the Big Picture

Whether it’s aviation or any other industry the ability to see the big picture is a critical thing. We should be able to understand the true concept of marketing and business philosophy and develop our mindset attuned to customer orientation, satisfaction, and delight. Therefore, the leader should be able to see the big picture of the organization. Where do we drive our organization is the key factor here. The leader needs to identify the vision of the organization and stimulate the people to work towards the vision.

Getting away from the myopic view

As Theodore Levitt mentioned in the philosophy of marketing, management must think of itself not as producing products, but as providing customer-creating value satisfaction. I believe in this concept firmly and have experienced many issues in many industries and many organizations the central core issue for many failures has been the myopic view about the business they are engaged in. We should be able to propagate this ideology at management discussions in organizations and raise awareness among all the employees through training and education on the definition our business, which is not product or service-oriented. For example, in aviation, an airport should not be looked at as a place where aircraft arrive and go. It should be more than that. We should define our business as connecting people to experience a destination for example. At our company too, we have redefined our business philosophy in our vision and mission statements.

Q : AS A LEADER IN THE AVIATION SECTOR, HOW DO YOU BALANCE LONG-TERM STRATEGIC GOALS WITH SHORT-TERM MARKETING INITIATIVES?

The long-term orientation is considered on the vision that we all pursue to be. We intend to address the most important issue of developing the physical infrastructure at the airport. At the same time to attract international airlines to Sri Lanka airports and contribute for the socio-economic development of the country are the major concerns. While the long-term strategic goals are pursued, we attempt to carry out the airport operations to the best of our ability to meet customer satisfaction with the limited physical infrastructure and bring in new technology to arrest the capacity crunch. Addressing the pressing issues
is the critical factor as the number of passenger movements handled increases. Marketing initiatives
are more focused on attracting international airlines, facilitating the airlines for successful route development at Colombo as their favorable destination, retaining the existing airlines, etc are the key.
The long-term goals have been identified in the corporate planning process of the organization. The company has identified the key goals such as optimizing the capacities to meet future demand, Enhancing the level of service for customer satisfaction, contribute to most applicable UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), To be in par with evolving technology, Enrich human capital to increase productivity and comply with aviation safety and security standards.

Q : AIRPORT PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN CREATING THE FIRST IMPRESSION OF A COUNTRY. WHAT ARE THE NEW INITIATIVES AND CHALLENGES FACED?

The aviation industry is changing rapidly. In today’s business world, airlines as well as airlines, air travelers have meaningful choices among airports and there is an increasing urgency among airport marketers to differentiate themselves by meeting the needs of customers better than the competition. The service level
of an airport has been a key competitive factor that contributes significantly to attracting airlines
to airports. Physical infrastructural facilities effect significant way to the service uplift of an airport. The
current capacity of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIAP is limited to handle around 6 mn passengers per annum and it limits the physical capacities to meet the expectations of the passengers, airlines and airport users at the airport. Airport and Aviation Service Sri Lanka (Pvt) Limited is in the process of recommencing the construction of the new Terminal 2 The new passenger terminal will be able to facilitate over 9 mn passengers on completion and the total capacity together with the existing terminal will go over 15 million passengers per annum.

AASL introduced “Ayubowan” Sri Lanka Program to Welcome Passengers and Tourists at BIA.

We have launched a program under the name “Ayubowan” Sri Lanka with the objective of enhancing the first impression of the Sri Lanka Airports as gateways to the country. Accordingly, a series of activities have been scheduled with the BIA frontline staff to greet the passengers with the phrase “Ayubowan” ‘Sri Lanka’ bound with our traditional culture of greeting any visitor. The program was initiated with the front-line staff of AASL and other key service providers. Raising awareness and attitude building is a key factor for this cultural change. Therefore, we have initiated a series of service education and training program
targeting the lowest categories of employees to the highest level. This program is expected to cover all the frontline staff of all other stakeholders work at BIA.

The objectives of this program are to enhance the first impression of the Sri Lanka Airports as gateways
to the country and to strengthen a service-oriented culture of all staff of all institutions at BIA.

Why we use “Ayubowan”?

• Reflecting Local Culture: This will reflect the unique culture and identity of the country and Ayubowan greeting will give subtle meaning of Sri Lanka’s culture rich with hospitality.
• This will contribute to the airport’s brand identity. It helps differentiate the country from other regional competitors and can be a key element in marketing and promotional efforts.
• A greeting that resonates with passengers can improve their overall experience. It can evoke positive emotions and make the airport experience more enjoyable.
• A greeting that highlights local culture and values can instill a sense of pride among the local community. It strengthens the airport’s role as an ambassador for the country.
• By incorporating a thoughtful and culturally relevant Ayubowan greeting, can enhance the brand, improve customer satisfaction, and create a lasting positive impression.

The challenge is to provide the expected level of service to every guest at every passenger touchpoint. Our vision is to be the friendliest aviation partner in global connectivity toward a sustainable economy. Understanding the vision, philosophy, and values of everyone who works at an airport is critical to creating a unified service experience for guests. Therefore, we recently developed a new service vision statement to rally everyone for the intended service vision of ‘Make every moment happy and exciting for every guest.’ Our purpose if to help passengers and guests have/experience a happy journey. Service education and training play a pivotal role at a service organization. We developed a new service value
mantra as HAPPY. The word happy is based on defined values such as; Helpfulness, Anticipation, Passion, Politeness, and Yes – Minded.

While we need to utilize our human resources to mitigate the challenges of limited physical infrastructure, we are also in the process of enhancing other, new technologies for passenger facilitation.

Q : WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF BUILDING A STRONG, ADAPTABLE ORGANIZATION AND A TEAM IN SUCH A FAST-CHANGING INDUSTRY LIKE AVIATION?

The most important factor I would identify will be the service leadership with a passion for creating a emorable passenger experience. The leader will play the leading role in emphasizing the strategic importance of the customer. Customer orientation is the key element an organization in aviation would always dream to create. The leader will declare the customer service policy of the organization, create a common language at work place, enable the subordinates to enhance the service delivery at each touch
point, motivate the employees, enable service innovation, promote service education towards higher productivity and be a role model.

Q : WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE ASPIRING TO LEAD IN THE AVIATION MARKETING INDUSTRY?

Marketing is the overall business philosophy of any organization. Customer needs identification and Customer orientation are the key for organizational success. The main customer for the airport is Airline and we serve the passengers, stakeholders and other airport users etc. Marketing will increase the organizational orientation towards the customer. Therefore, promoting an internal marketing culture is critical for the customer-oriented service culture. We believe the marketing will create value for the organization, aviation industry, future of air mobility, and the national economy articulating marketing as the core business philosophy exceeding the expectations of all stakeholders through internal and external
marketing endeavors. Therefore, the aspiring youth should develop the skills and competencies to
identify the customer’s ever-changing emotions. He or she needs to develop creativity, innovation, and resilience, and keep abreast with the latest technological developments in the aviation industry. Further, he or she needs to monitor always the external business environment factors to identify opportunities
and threats. I would also suggest developing conceptual as well as technical skills, which are critical
for success in the profession of marketing in aviation.